This list of museums in County Durham, England, contains museums which are defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical interest and make their collections or related exhibits available for public viewing. Also included are non-profit art galleries and university art galleries. Museums that exist only in cyberspace (i.e., virtual museums) are not included.
| Name | Image | Town/City | Type | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religious | Located at St Mary and St Cuthbert Church, medieval room used by anchorites | |||
| Historic house | Home of the Bishop of Durham for over 800 years | |||
| Open air | Focus is 1825 and 1913 life in urbanized North East England, includes trains, agriculture, industry exhibits | |||
| Art | Former town hall, houses Bishop Auckland's main public library, a theatre, an art gallery, tourist information centre and a café-bar | |||
| Art | Includes fine art, decorative art, ceramics, textiles, tapestries, clocks and costumes | |||
| Military | History of the Durham Light Infantry, located in same building as the Durham Art Gallery | |||
| Art | website, modern and contemporary art, located in same building as the DLI Museum | |||
| Historic house | Norman castle, part of University College, Durham, open for guided tours | |||
| Religious | Includes tower, monk's dormitory, shrine of Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, exhibits on the cathedral's construction and history | |||
| Mining | website, mining in the Northern part of England | |||
| Local | Local history | |||
| Art | Operated by the Hartlepool Borough Council, exhibits of crafts, contemporary and fine art, and photography | |||
| Maritime | Recreation of an 18th-century seaport in the time of Lord Nelson, Napoleon and the Battle of Trafalgar | |||
| Military | Restored 19th century coastal defense battery and exhibits about local coastal artillery forces | |||
| Maritime | Early 19th century Royal Navy Leda class frigate museum ship | |||
| Railway | ||||
| Railway | Heritage railroad and museum | |||
| Mining | Former 19th century lead mine, minerals, life of the miner and family | |||
| Archaeology | Also known as Old Fulling Mill Museum of Archaeology, part of the University of Durham, artifacts from prehistoric, Ancient Greece, Roman and Medieval periods | |||
| Local | Local history, maritime heritage, PS Wingfield Castle museum ship | |||
| Railway | Branch of the National Railway Museum, includes over 70 railway heritage vehicles | |||
| Ethnographic | Part of the University of Durham, includes Chinese, Egyptian, Korean, Japanese and other far east and Asian artifacts | |||
| Durham | Library | Part of the Durham University Library, exhibits from the University's collections in art, history, culture, literature, website | ||
| Local | Includes a recreated period street of the 1890s, period rooms, an armoury and a toy collection | |||
| Historic house | Medieval castle with 18th & 19th century decorations, deer park, gardens | |||
| Historic house | Palladian-style country house | |||
| Art | Municipal art gallery | |||
| Railway | Heritage railroad and shed with locomotives and equipment | |||
| Local | Local history, mining, geology, John Wesley and Methodist memorabilia, farming, railway | |||