Danum Gallery, Library and Museum, formerly Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery is a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

History

The first Doncaster Museum opened in 1909 at Beechfield House, utilising only the ground floor of the building, and operated a small zoo at the site from 1955. It moved to a purpose-built site on Chequer Road in 1964 to display collections of natural history, archaeology, local history, fine and decorative art. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

of the extinct species '' Ichthyosaurus anningae'' was identified in the museum's collection in 2008 and formally named in 2015. The building also houses the Regimental Museum of the

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was a Light infantry, light infantry regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. In 1968, the regiment was amalgamated with the Somers ...

. The Roman Danum shield, found in Doncaster in 1971 is on display in the museum. The museum won the "Most Improved Audience Figures" award from Audiences Yorkshire in 2009.

Redevelopment

The former museum site closed on 17 January 2020, with the move to a new venue, originally intended to open in summer 2020. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

caused delays to the relocation process. The new building, which cost £14 million, was completed in October 2020. The new museum is called 'The Danum Gallery, Library and Museum' and encloses the Doncaster High School for Girls building. The new museum opened to the public on 29 May 2021. A new rail heritage centre opened on 19 September 2021 within the venue exhibits the

Great Northern Railway Great Northern Railway or Great Northern Railroad may refer to: Australia * Great Northern Railway (Queensland) in Australia * Great Northern Rail Services in Victoria, Australia *Central Australia Railway was known as the great Northern Railway ...

C1 class locomotive No. 251 and the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...

Class V2 4771 locomotive ''

Green Arrow Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' No. 73 on September 19, 1941 (cover dated November 1941), th ...

'' to celebrate the contribution Doncaster made to the rail industry. Both locomotives were built in Doncaster and are on loan from the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum (NRM) is a museum in York, England, forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historical ...

for three years from February 2021. The original site of the museum on Chequer Road is now home to the Doncaster Archives and Local Studies Library.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Doncaster Education in Doncaster Museums established in 1964 Art museums and galleries in South Yorkshire Museums in South Yorkshire Local museums in South Yorkshire 1964 establishments in England