Lanarkshire 2020/21
10
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Heritage Way
Coatbridge
North Lanarkshire
ML5 1QD
01236 638 460
Summerlee Museum interprets the social and
industrial history of Central Scotland, with a focus
on the Monklands area, formerly the ‘Iron Burgh’. Its
displays feature historic machinery in daily operation
as well as reconstructed domestic environments. An
electric tramway provides transport round the site,
giving access to a restored section of the Monkland
Canal, an operating boat shop, tram depot, steam
cranes, railway locomotives, an archaeological
excavation of 1830s ironworks and a coal mine.
The main exhibition hall provides a modern and
environmentally sustainable setting for some
of Scotland’s most important displays of social
and industrial history. Included in the exhibition
are the Ravenscraig site collection, a Gibb and
Hogg engine, the Holytown shop banner from the
Reform Act of 1832 and the Cardowan winding
engine. The hall is designed to allow visitors to
explore the dawn and rise of the industrial era
through the machinery, objects and documents on
display. The many interactive elements throughout
the hall enable visitors of all ages and interests
to discover fascinating facts about their industrial
heritage in new and exciting ways. The working
tram takes visitors down to the reconstructed mine
and the miner’s cottages, which depict the living
and working conditions of Lanarkshire miners and
their families during the 19th and 20th centuries.
The tram passes the sawmill and woodshed, with
its display on the use of timber down the ages.
The museum makes a great family day out and
in addition to Scotland’s only operational heritage
tramway, has a play park, a cafe and a shop.
Summerlee was one of Scotland’s most important
ironworks. Opened in 1836, it closed in 1926. The
remains of its blast furnaces and other structures
can be seen from the view pod and parapet at the
north-east side of the main exhibition hall.
SUMMERLEE MUSEUM OF SCOTTISH INDUSTRIAL LIFE
