Kelham Island Museum

Principally covers the period 1750 to the present-day highlighting the major features of Sheffield's manufacturing industries and their development.

Kelham Island Museum was opened in 1982 to house the objects, pictures and archive material representing Sheffield's industrial story. The displays at the Museum tell that story from the "Little Mester" to mass production, skilled workers, revolutionary processes, quality products, invention and innovation.

Located in one of the city's oldest industrial districts, the Museum stands on a man-made island over 900 years old. Inside the Museum buildings, you can witness the sights and sounds of industrial Sheffield through our exhibitions, working machinery, activity areas and event days.

Over the last two years, we have been working on a major building project to provide new storage and conservation facilities for the Museum's medium and large objects.
As part of this, a new mezzanine floor has been built in the museum buildings for our transport collection. The collection includes the famous Sheffield Simplex car, built in 1920. Also on display are the Charron Laycock car, Richardson Light car, Ner-a-car motorcycle and Rolls-Royce jet engine. This mezzanine floor will be open to the public.
From the mezzanine floor, you can view our Open Store with fascinating objects from Sheffield's industrial past. You can also see the conservation workshops, where our engineers work to preserve Sheffield's industrial heritage.

Frequent temporary exhibitions and special events including annual Victorian Christmas market in December.

Major Exhibit - The 12,000 hp River Don Steam Engine (check whether in steam before travelling).