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Building closure - upcoming dates

Due to extensive roofing works at Palace Green Library, there will be times when we have to close the building to visitors between summer 2024 and spring 2025, with no access to Museum of Archaeology, Cosin’s Library, Penned and Printed exhibition and World Heritage Site Visitor Centre.

Visit our Tickets and Times pages at each venue for more information.

Show Past Events

Museum of Archaeology Gallery

01 January 2022 - 01 December 2023

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Museum of Archaeology, Historic Libraries

Enjoy our new special exhibition exploring the rich prehistoric and Roman archaeology of Durham.

  • Exhibitions
  • Everyone

Tunstall and the Tudors: The Calculating Bishop

31 July 2022 - 26 March 2023

12:00 AM - 11:59 PM

Durham Castle, Durham World Heritage Site Visitor Centre

Meet Cuthbert Tunstall: bishop, scholar, diplomat, builder, and author of England’s first maths book, celebrating its 500th anniversary this year. He might just be the most important man in Tudor England that you’ve never heard of.

  • Exhibitions
  • Everyone

'There was light': Amunhotep III and his Dazzling Age

01 October 2022 - 21 May 2023

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Oriental Museum

The ancient Egyptian king Amunhotep III was the grandfather of the famous boy king Tutankhamun.

  • Exhibitions
  • Everyone

Guardians of the Silk Road's Heritage: Women of the mountains of Central Asia

01 October 2022 - 21 May 2023

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Oriental Museum

This exhibition showcases the work of the professional artists and craftswomen who do so much to preserve and transfer traditional knowledge and skills, adapting them for new audiences and popularising Central Asian folk art. Alongside photographs of the women practicing a variety of traditional craft techniques will be examples of their textile work.

  • Exhibitions
  • Everyone

Photographing Tutankhamun

09 December 2022 - 17 July 2023

12:00 PM - 12:00 PM

Outdoor Art Gallery

This exhibition explores how photography turned Tutankhamun into a global sensation. It shows the most famous photographic images in archaeology, from the most famous of archaeological finds: the tomb of Tutankhamun. Marking the 100th anniversary of the tomb’s discovery in November 1922, this exhibition created by Durham University academic, Prof Christina Riggs, examines the striking images created by photographer Harry Burton during the decade-long excavation.

  • Exhibitions
  • Everyone

Contemporary Wood-carved Netsuke

20 January 2023 - 14 May 2023

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Oriental Museum

An international touring exhibition from the Japan Foundation.

  • Public
  • Everyone

Stories from the River: Explore the collection of Gary Bankhead, underwater archaeologist

20 February 2023 - 23 April 2023

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Museum of Archaeology

The exhibition explores the stories connected through objects discovered in the River Wear, evoking the social history of Durham’s past 800 years. It has been co-curated by underwater archaeologist Gary Bankhead and the Museum of Archaeology. It will feature around 200 of the 13,500 artefacts that have been found in the River Wear by Gary since 2008, in a friendly-family display.

  • Exhibition
  • Everyone

Signs of Spring in March

01 March 2023 - 31 March 2023

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Botanic Garden

Pick up a spotter sheet from the Visitor Centre and see what you can discover in the garden (subject to availability of leaflets).

  • Holiday activities
  • Public
  • Everyone

Little Dragons

15 March 2023 - 15 March 2023

9:30 AM - 11:45 AM

Oriental Museum

Little Dragons, our group for children under 5 and their families, offers in-person sessions at the Oriental Museum. Booking essential.

  • Public
  • Everyone

Thursday Twilight Opening

16 March 2023 - 16 March 2023

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Oriental Museum

Join us on a twilight visit to the Oriental Museum on a Thursday until 7pm.

  • Public
  • Everyone

Girl Power

18 March 2023 - 18 March 2023

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Oriental Museum

Celebrate International Women's Day and find out all about the mighty ancient Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII and make your own girl power portrait.

  • Public
  • Everyone

Little Dragons

22 March 2023 - 22 March 2023

9:30 AM - 11:45 AM

Oriental Museum

Little Dragons, our group for children under 5 and their families, offers in-person sessions at the Oriental Museum. Booking essential.

  • Public
  • Everyone

Ancient Chariots

25 March 2023 - 25 March 2023

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Oriental Museum

See our lifesize chariot sculpture at the museum then craft your own mini chariot to take home.

  • Public
  • Everyone

Celebrating Bangladeshi independence

26 March 2023 - 26 March 2023

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Oriental Museum

Join us for an afternoon of activities celebrating Bangladeshi independence and Bengali culture. Visitors can get hands on with Bangladeshi objects including a rare replica of the Bangladeshi Constitution.

  • Public
  • Everyone

Little Dragons

29 March 2023 - 29 March 2023

9:30 AM - 11:45 AM

Oriental Museum

Little Dragons, our group for children under 5 and their families, offers in-person sessions at the Oriental Museum. Booking essential.

  • Public
  • Everyone

Signs of Spring in April

01 April 2023 - 30 April 2023

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Botanic Garden

Pick up a spotter sheet from the Visitor Centre and see what you can discover in the garden (subject to availability of leaflets).

  • Holiday activities
  • Public
  • Everyone

Friends of the Oriental Museum lecture: The Greeks in Asia

04 April 2023 - 04 April 2023

7:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Oriental Museum

Friends of the Oriental Museum lecture by Prof Kathryn Stevens, Fellow, Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford

  • Lecture
  • Friends of the Oriental Museum

The Wild Escape

05 April 2023 - 05 April 2023

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Oriental Museum

We are celebrating all things wild with this national event to imagine a better future for wildlife. Explore the animals hidden in the galleries, write a wild poem and make a colourful tiger hanging decoration.

  • Creative
  • Holiday activities
  • Outreach & community
  • Public
  • Everyone

Meet the Diver

08 April 2023 - 08 April 2023

12:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Museum of Archaeology

Visit our temporary exhibition "Stories from the River: Exploring the history of Durham, the finds of underwater archaeologist Gary Bankhead" today, and meet underwater archaeologist Gary Bankhead.

  • Exhibition
  • Public
  • Everyone

Celebrate Easter

08 April 2023 - 08 April 2023

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Oriental Museum

Find out how Easter is celebrated around the world and make a cute bunny to take home.

  • Outreach & community
  • Everyone

What’s on across our venues

Our unique cultural attractions include Durham Castle, Botanic Garden, Historic Libraries at Palace Green, Oriental Museum, Museum of Archaeology and our World Heritage Site Visitor Centre. Whatever your interest, there's something for everyone to enjoy.

Children sitting at a table and smiling during an event