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Hancock Museum

The Hancock Museum is a museum of natural history in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located next to the Great North Road, on the campus of Newcastle University. The museum and all of its collections are owned by the Natural History Society of Northumbria but is now managed by Tyne and Wear Museums on behalf of Newcastle University.

History

The museum opened on its current site in 1884 after the collection of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle (founded 1793) outgrew its small museum, located on Westgate Road, which opened in 1834. It was re-named in the 1890s, after the local Victorian naturalists, Albany and John Hancock. In 1959 the Natural History Society agreed with the University of Newcastle for the University to care for the building and collections, and since 1992 the University have contracted Tyne & Wear Museums to manage the Museum under a Service Level Agreement.

Refurbishment / Great North Museum Project

As of 23 April 2006, the museum has been closed and will not reopen until early 2009. It is being completely refurbished and extended as part of the Great North Museum Project. It will include new displays on natural history and geology, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece, Romans and Hadrian's Wall, World Cultures and Pre-history. It will also include an interactive study zone, an under 5's space and a digital Planetarium, as well as new learning facilities, a new temporary exhibition space and a study garden. The new museum will house not only the Hancock Museum collections, but also those of the University's Museum of Antiquities, Hatton Gallery and Shefton Museum.

The Great North Museum project is a partnership between Newcastle University, Tyne & Wear Museums, Newcastle City Council, the Natural History Society of Northumbria and the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne.

The Great North Museum project has been made possible with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, TyneWear Partnership, One NorthEast, the European Regional Development Fund, Newcastle University, Newcastle City Council, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Wolfson Foundation and The Northern Rock Foundation, as well as numerous other trusts and foundations.