Kelham Island Museum
Kelham Island Museum
4.5
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday
11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
About
Kelham Island Museum celebrates 300 years of Sheffield making history Explore the story of making in the city, from master craftsmen to mass production. Experience life and work during the Industrial Revolution, follow the sights and sounds of progress through the Victorian era, celebrate the Women of Steel and see how industry forged the modern city. You’ll hear the roar and feel the rumble of the mighty River Don Engine, the 425 ton 12,000hp visitor-favourite in steam twice a day, and find out more about the industry that saw Sheffield become world-renowned for making and innovation. The Museum is also home to the Hawley Tool Collection, chronicling centuries of skilled craftsmanship and precision manufacturing.
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.

Top ways to experience Kelham Island Museum and nearby attractions

The area
Address
Reach out directly
See what travellers are saying
  • Laura J
    Sheffield, United Kingdom187 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Brilliant Museum
    This is an amazing museum, focusing mostly on the industrial revolution, Sheffield steel making and engineering. It's split over 3 floors, each one teaming with information all about Sheffield history. One of the best exhibits they have is the Don Engine, which runs daily and is a magnificent sight and experience (though very loud so small children may not enjoy that part). The museum has the added bonus of being free and therefore is definitely worth the visit if given the chance.
    Visited February 2023
    Written 5 July 2023
  • Katie B
    10 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Excellent industrial heritage destination.
    Fantastic heritage and industrial museum in a genuine and authentic setting. It's great to see working steams engines and other bits of moving equipment and machinery. It was nice to see that the museum wasn't all touch screens and multi media. You get to see and touch the real things.
    Visited July 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 22 July 2023
  • David D
    Kenilworth, United Kingdom64 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Amazing Museum and Free Entry (if you want)
    Free entry and no pressure to donate if you don’t want to, but I did after such an enjoyable experience. Great things to see and videos to watch on how steel is made and developed over the years, as well as interaction from the staff. Really enjoyed it and especially good if the weathers bad and your looking for something to do,
    Visited August 2023
    Written 17 August 2023
  • Danielle D
    Liverpool, United Kingdom51 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Gem of Sheffield
    Absolute gem of a place! Definitely worth a visit if you are in Sheffield. We spent over 4 hours and could have stayed longer! A special mention to Mike who we had the pleasure to meet and who spent time with us showing us around and sharing lots of interesting facts. The cafe was lovely too! Our first try of a homemade vegan sausage roll which was absolutely delicious! Thank you for a lovely afternoon!
    Visited August 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 23 August 2023
  • Philippa S
    Egham, United Kingdom8 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A great museum to visit in Sheffield
    Well, what a brilliant experience this was! This free museum well exceeded our expectations. From the huge installations in the car park to the smallest of measuring instruments, it’s a great place for lovers of real “heavy metal” charting the history of the local steel industry. Displays are interactive and there’s something for all ages. The museum started 40 years ago and it is truly uplifting to see it thriving and vibrant. The staff were very friendly and knowledgable, especially Sharon who knew so much about not only this museum, but other local attractions. (She also rescued us from being locked in the car park!). There’s also a great pub full of character and interesting beers. We highly recommend a visit to this museum, and whilst it is free, we were happy to make a donation, which you’re invited to do. it’s well worth supporting!
    Visited September 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 17 September 2023
  • Dorcas J
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    An immersive and informative experience
    Kelham Island Museum was easy to get to by car and public transport. There is a small car park available at the end of the road, which is free for those visiting the museum. You enter the museum via the gift shop and can pick up a very simple map of the museum to help you get around it. it was quite useful. The museum is well laid out with separate small area for different types of Sheffield's industries. The information on the boards is very interesting. It is not too much so as to overload the end but gives a good insight into the lives of the workers of Sheffield over the years. There are a number of interactive displays which were interesting. IT is a shortcoming of them that there are no answers to the questions that are asked on some of them. Recipes for Success is one example where you end up with no idea whether you have answered the questions correctly or not. 'Getting about Town' had boards with information, which was interesting, and questions related to the content of each board but no answers and some answers were not even included in the information. Naming the rivers of Shuffled was impossible as the only one mentioned on the boards was the River Don. There were also a number of broken displays - 'Making a Pen Knife' was one of these. It was a good idea/task but spoilt by the fact that the elements had been broken and not replaced with new ones. Despite all of the niggles it was a very interesting place to visit. You could really soak up the atmosphere of Sheffield at various times in history through the displays, the rooms, sights, sounds and smells. An immersive experience. Both I and my sister found out a lot about Sheffield while we were there and were enjoyed our visit immensely. Although the Museum is free to visit it really is important that donations are given to enable the displays to be upgraded and looked after. There is a donation box in the gift shop and you can also 'gift aid' your donation. I would happily return to this Museum.
    Visited January 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 31 January 2024
  • Ludwik D
    341 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Gem
    The museum is the gem in Kelham island. The best free to enter museum I've come across. Lots of displays over three floors. It covers the history of iron and Steel making in general, applications of steel and the history of Sheffield itself. They even had a section on slide rulers and early calculators such as the 1970s models from Sinclair, HP and Texas, they had a TI57 calculator, a real collectors item, forty years since I've seen one. The place has free toilets. I was here on Friday lunchtime, very few visitors, almost equal numbers of staff. The downside was the Kelham island area. It is Sheffield's attempt at redevelopment of an industrial area near a river, the development is small, and too far away from the city centre itself. The place was almost deserted. Other cities such as Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester have done this on a much larger scale and done it better. They have thriving communities, this place is almost a ghost town.
    Visited February 2024
    Travelled solo
    Written 16 February 2024
  • Fred1953
    Manchester, United Kingdom49 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A great must see day out in South Yorkshire.
    Absolutely superb museum right in the centre of Sheffield. Lots of exhibits, some inter-active, with a nice lift so disabled friendly. Free admission and parking, although they would appreciate a small donation, but that is optional. The staff were friendly and helpful, I would allow at least 2-3 hours to see all the museum has to offer. There is a lovely cafe on site called Joni's, again the staff were first class.
    Visited March 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 6 March 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles740 reviews
Excellent
452
Very good
237
Average
35
Poor
10
Terrible
6

Fred1953
Manchester, UK49 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2024 • Couples
Absolutely superb museum right in the centre of Sheffield. Lots of exhibits, some inter-active, with a nice lift so disabled friendly. Free admission and parking, although they would appreciate a small donation, but that is optional. The staff were friendly and helpful, I would allow at least 2-3 hours to see all the museum has to offer. There is a lovely cafe on site called Joni's, again the staff were first class.
Written 6 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ludwik D
341 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Solo
The museum is the gem in Kelham island.
The best free to enter museum I've come across. Lots of displays over three floors.
It covers the history of iron and Steel making in general, applications of steel and the history of Sheffield itself.
They even had a section on slide rulers and early calculators such as the 1970s models from Sinclair, HP and Texas, they had a TI57 calculator, a real collectors item, forty years since I've seen one.
The place has free toilets.
I was here on Friday lunchtime, very few visitors, almost equal numbers of staff.
The downside was the Kelham island area. It is Sheffield's attempt at redevelopment of an industrial area near a river, the development is small, and too far away from the city centre itself. The place was almost deserted. Other cities such as Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester have done this on a much larger scale and done it better. They have thriving communities, this place is almost a ghost town.
Written 16 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Dorcas J
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Family
Kelham Island Museum was easy to get to by car and public transport. There is a small car park available at the end of the road, which is free for those visiting the museum.

You enter the museum via the gift shop and can pick up a very simple map of the museum to help you get around it. it was quite useful. The museum is well laid out with separate small area for different types of Sheffield's industries. The information on the boards is very interesting. It is not too much so as to overload the end but gives a good insight into the lives of the workers of Sheffield over the years.

There are a number of interactive displays which were interesting. IT is a shortcoming of them that there are no answers to the questions that are asked on some of them. Recipes for Success is one example where you end up with no idea whether you have answered the questions correctly or not. 'Getting about Town' had boards with information, which was interesting, and questions related to the content of each board but no answers and some answers were not even included in the information. Naming the rivers of Shuffled was impossible as the only one mentioned on the boards was the River Don.

There were also a number of broken displays - 'Making a Pen Knife' was one of these. It was a good idea/task but spoilt by the fact that the elements had been broken and not replaced with new ones.

Despite all of the niggles it was a very interesting place to visit. You could really soak up the atmosphere of Sheffield at various times in history through the displays, the rooms, sights, sounds and smells. An immersive experience.

Both I and my sister found out a lot about Sheffield while we were there and were enjoyed our visit immensely. Although the Museum is free to visit it really is important that donations are given to enable the displays to be upgraded and looked after. There is a donation box in the gift shop and you can also 'gift aid' your donation.

I would happily return to this Museum.
Written 31 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

drliz_9
Pembrokeshire, UK86 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Couples
Very interesting and well set out exhibitions over 3 floors. Extremely pleasant, knowledgeable and helpful staff who really were concerned that we enjoyed our visit.
Written 23 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sarah B
Connor Downs, UK15 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Couples
What an amazing place, great to see some the industry created in this area. Even better that admission if free, they just ask for a donation, I would happily pay £5-10 to visit this place to keep it open.
Written 18 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Alice
Sheffield, UK1 contribution
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023 • Couples
Lovely museum, alot of local history to see and the staff where very friendly. Plus close to the city centre so easy to get to
Written 6 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Nupur C
11 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2023 • Family
Great place for a short family day, especially for the Victorian Christmas market. Pricey tickets but atleast something nice. Lots of stalls for handmade gifts, food, christmas wreaths etc
Written 5 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Robert M
Stoke-on-Trent, UK147 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2023 • Business
The primary exhibit is the extraordinary River Don steam engine which used to shape steel plates. Currently, it is run at 12.00 noon and 14.00 hours. What an e extraordinary experience! The whole area is a time capsule of industry but is receiving gentrification. There are super pubs on site and locally; and great housing if you fancy!
Written 24 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jűłįə P
6 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2023 • Couples
Recommend a look it was interesting it was 1 of the things we did in Sheffield that we enjoyed and would go back
Written 19 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Philippa S
Egham, UK8 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2023 • Couples
Well, what a brilliant experience this was! This free museum well exceeded our expectations. From the huge installations in the car park to the smallest of measuring instruments, it’s a great place for lovers of real “heavy metal” charting the history of the local steel industry. Displays are interactive and there’s something for all ages.
The museum started 40 years ago and it is truly uplifting to see it thriving and vibrant. The staff were very friendly and knowledgable, especially Sharon who knew so much about not only this museum, but other local attractions. (She also rescued us from being locked in the car park!).
There’s also a great pub full of character and interesting beers. We highly recommend a visit to this museum, and whilst it is free, we were happy to make a donation, which you’re invited to do. it’s well worth supporting!
Written 17 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 723
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

KELHAM ISLAND MUSEUM: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

Frequently Asked Questions about Kelham Island Museum


Restaurants near Kelham Island Museum: View all restaurants near Kelham Island Museum on Tripadvisor