Teacher-led Visits
© Andy Brown
© Andy Brown
Teachers are welcome to bring groups for free self-guided visits to any of the museums during regular opening hours.
Whichever site you visit, you’ll find lots of inspiration in the exhibitions and displays to take back to the classroom.
You’ll just need to book your teacher-led visit with us – we’ll then help you get them most from your time with us and also so make sure the museums don’t get overcrowded. You can find info on how to book and plan your visit below.
Weston Park Museum tells the stories of Sheffield and its people from pre-history right through to the present day. The museum spans a wide range of science-based topics, including Adaptation, Habitats, Water Cycle, Rocks, Weather and Climate Change. Displays also chronicle local history, from the Stone Age up to the 21st century. With displays on important movements such as the Miners’ Strike, LGBTQ+ and Chartism, the museum is also a great visit for classes focussing on Citizenship, Democracy or Protest.
Open Tue – Sun during term time
Located in one of the city’s oldest industrial districts, the Kelham Island Museum stands on a man-made island that’s nearly a thousand years old. The museum’s collections, including the mighty River Don Engine, tell Sheffield’s industrial story, making it a perfect focus for local history and Industrial Revolution projects. Follow the growth of the Steel City through the Victorian Era and two World Wars, learn about the amazing Women of Steel, and discover how Sheffield earned its global reputation for steel production.
Open Tue – Sun during term time
The Millennium Gallery brings the best is art and design to Sheffield, presenting a regularly changing programme of changing exhibitions. It’s also home to Sheffield’s nationally significant Metalwork Collection, which offers perspectives on local history and industry, changes in society throughout the 20th century, and the science of steel. Highlights from the Guild of St George’s unique Ruskin Collection are also showcased here, celebrating the wonders of nature through art, craft, geology and natural science.
Open Tue – Sun during term time
Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet offers a glimpse of life at home and at work at a rural scythe and steelworks dating back to the 18th century. Once a producer of agricultural tools and the largest water-powered industrial site on the River Sheaf, it represents a key part of Sheffield’s industrial heritage. The historic Hamlet buildings include the Manager's House, Workers’ Cottage, waterwheels, workshops, tilt hammers, a grinding hull, steam engine and the last complete surviving crucible steel furnace in the UK. Explore the industry that shaped Sheffield, themes of class and jobs, and get an insight into life and work at the time.
Open Thu – Sun during term time
The Graves Gallery is home to Sheffield’s visual art collection, including works by Paul Cézanne, Fay Godwin, Gwen John, Isaac Julien, Haroon Mirza, Bridget Riley and JMW Turner. Some artworks on display have been chosen for their focus on Identity; these include Grayson Perry’s large-scale tapestry Comfort Blanket, which offers a playful and counter-intuitive opportunity to explore ‘British Values’; and Keith Piper’s Seven Rages Of Man, which explores race and the legacies of colonialism in thought-provoking and challenging ways.
Open Tue – Sat during term time
Set in the Porter Brook valley, Shepherd Wheel Workshop is a unique working example of Sheffield's knife-grinding industry dating back to the 16th century. It was one of many small water-powered grinding workshops along Sheffield's rivers; for over four centuries is was the workplace of skilled grinders, who produced fine, sharp cutting edges, in the dark, damp conditions. This is a unique piece of Sheffield’s history – and a more unusual story to consider for projects relating to the Industrial Revolution.
Open Sat – Sun during term time
