Museum of Making

What it’s like

Free entry to a museum built on Derby's 300 years of making, with workshops and maker spaces to poke around in.

This is a museum about making things, built on the actual site where the world's first factory stood in the Derwent Valley. The exhibits cover Derby's 300-year run of making, from the old silk mill days onwards, and there are workshops and maker spaces where you can watch things being built rather than just read a label about them.

Getting in costs nothing, and there's no booking link to wrestle with either. That said, some of the temporary exhibitions do charge, so it's not a blanket guarantee every single room is free on the day you turn up. It's open Tuesday to Saturday 10 till 5, Sunday 10 till 4, and shut on Mondays, which catches people out if they've planned a Monday city trip around it.

There's no car park attached to the building itself. You park at Bold Lane or Chapel Street and get the ticket validated inside for £2.70 a day, which is a decent rate for a city centre spot. Four Blue Badge bays sit right on Silk Mill Lane if you need them. If you're coming by train, Derby station is under two hours from London, and the walk in from the bus station along the river is about ten minutes.

The café does fresh, seasonal, local food, which is one step up from the standard museum sandwich. The building itself is fully wheelchair-accessible, so a buggy should have no trouble either.

Facilities

Need to know

Parking

Off-site parking at Bold Lane and Chapel Street car parks

Food

Family-friendly café serving fresh, seasonal and local food

Wheelchairs

Fully wheelchair-accessible. 4 accessible parking bays on Silk Mill Lane for Blue Badge holders

Getting there by bus or train

Derby train station has direct trains from London in less than 2 hours

• No car park on site, it's the Bold Lane or Chapel Street car parks, validated inside for £2.70 a day
• Closed Mondays, so don't build a Monday visit around it
• Bus station is a 10 minute walk along the river if you're not driving
• The café leans towards fresh, local food rather than the usual museum snack counter

Plan your visit

Also on site

• Shop Floor and The Hub

  Two retail areas, including a dedicated space for makers.

• The River Kitchen

  Family-friendly café serving fresh, seasonal and local food.

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