Barnsley Museums

02/09/2026

in 2006 Charlie Williams MBE passed away.

Charles Adolphus Williams was born in Royston in 1927. He started his working life a miner before becoming one of the first black players in British football. He also became an household name as a stand-up comedian. This is clip from a 1983 interview which you can hear more from in the Barnsley Museums Natters podcast.

01/09/2026

Happy new month!

Starting today Experience Barnsley: Museum & Discovery Centre and Barnsley Archives and Local Studies are sharing the A-Z of Barnsley

Ahead of the annual Heritage Open Days events our Barnsley Heritage Connects project is turning September into Barnsley Heritage Month and will be sharing lots of ideas of places to visit.

There's more information about all the free Heritage Open Days events on our website

www.barnsley-museums.com/HeritageOpenDays

Happy September!

Along with Barnsley Civic Trust, Barnsley Museums, Barnsley Archives and Local Studies and Experience Barnsley: Museum & Discovery Centre we're turning it into Barnsley Heritage Month.

There's lots of Heritage Open Days taking place across Barnsley starting from next Friday and we'd like to hear from you and your suggestions of where we should visit.

For more details of the FREE Heritage Open Days events, visit our website: www.barnsley-museums.com/HeritageOpenDays

Cawthorne Victoria Jubilee Museum Darfield Museum Barnsley Main Heritage Group Rabbit Ings Country Park Friends of Monk Bretton Priory Friends of Locke Park Wortley Top Forge Elsecar Park RSPB Old Moor Hemingfield Colliery - FoHC

28/08/2026

Today is Makaton International Awareness Day.

We have lots of Makaton videos on our website which help tell the stories of objects in our collections inlcuding Geoffrey Ambler’s prized Barnsley F.C. rattle is hand-painted red and white in the club’s colours. It is inscribed with ‘Tyke’, the name of Barnsley’s mascot and unofficial name for local fans.

Watch more on our website:
https://www.barnsley-museums.com/accessibility/makaton-mondays

27/08/2026

You only have until 20 September to see the current exhibition at Cannon Hall Museum, Park and Gardens

Cannon Hall: The Story of a House and Its Family tells the stories of the Spencer Stanhope family who called Cannon Hall home for 300 years.

The museum is open on Bank Holiday Monday, 11am-4pm and then reverts back to the usual opening hours of Thurs-Sun, 11am-4pm

26/08/2026

🧩 🧩 celebrates

Simply follow this link: ➡ bit.ly/CooperJigsaw1184

'Lady with a Dog' by Heinrich Breling and 'A Dog on the Alert' by George Armfield

A reminder that The Cooper Gallery shares a new puzzle everyday at 8am

www.barnsley-museums.com/collections

26/08/2026

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow you gotta put up with the rain"

Dolly Parton - 1946-2026

25/08/2026

NEW BLOG: This is 'Uncle Roddy' a painting by Evelyn De Morgan.

In this new article, Tracey Hebron (Collections Clerk) explores the life and legacy of John Roddam Spencer Stanhope, the Yorkshire-born artist whose work bridged the worlds of Pre-Raphaelite painting, religious art and Victorian imagination.

Read more: https://barnsleymuseums.art.blog/2026/08/20/john-roddam-spencer-stanhope/

The current exhibition at Cannon Hall Museum, Park and Gardens celebrates the Spencer Stanhope family who lived at the hall for 300 years.

25/08/2026

Barnsley Museums and Heritage Trust is part of the Co-op Local Community Fund.

We are very interested in learning the history of lesser-known areas of Elsecar. We would like to involve them in collecting the stories to create accessible community information boards.

To find out more about our project and choose to support us, click here: https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/99977

24/08/2026

September is just around the corner which means it's not long until the return of Heritage Open Days 11-20 September

Visitors are invited to discover Barnsley's rich heritage during Heritage Open Days with more than 15 free events taking place across the borough.

This year Elsecar Heritage Centre are taking part with a series of local history talks.

We've added information about all of the events taking place in Barnsley to our website, there's so much to see and do!

Barnsley Civic Trust are offering a town centre heritage walk. There's chance to visit places like NT Wentworth Castle Gardens Barnsley Main Heritage Group, Darfield Museum, Hemingfield Colliery - FoHC, Hoylandswaine plus many more!

Barnsley Heritage Connects will be sharing more information about all these events in the next couple of weeks

https://www.barnsley-museums.com/HeritageOpenDays

24/08/2026

The latest episode of the Barnsley Museums Natters podcast is out now!

It features Judith, Mary and Barbara talking about how much it means to be part of the Culture Companions Group.

Simply search Barnsley Museums in your usual podcast provider, there's also a link in the comments to our 'Copying Cooper' online exhibition