Durham University, Oriental Museum

The Oriental Museum sits on Elvet Hill on the southern edge of Durham, part of the university’s campus. It holds more than 23,500 artefacts from across Asia and Egypt, including Chinese ceramics, Korean bronzes and Indian sculptures. Three of its collections—Chinese, Egyptian and Japanese—have been recognised by Arts Council England as nationally and internationally significant. The museum began in the 1940s when William Thacker, Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Languages, started gathering Near Eastern items. Early displays grew from loans and donations, including Chinese bronzes shown in 1953 and textiles exhibited in 1954. The museum’s story is shaped by key figures and generous gifts. Malcolm MacDonald donated a large collection of Chinese ceramics in the late 1950s, while Charles Hardinge gave nearly 2,000 pieces of jade and hardstone. A 1969 display of moon rock drew over 12,000 visitors in two days, forcing late openings. In 2016 a new Egyptian gallery opened, named after Thacker, and featured a mummy known as ‘The Lady’ with a 2,300-year-old prosthetic limb. Partnerships with China’s Palace Museum have brought major exhibitions, including one in 2025 celebrating a century of the Forbidden City. Inside, visitors find dedicated galleries for China, Korea, Japan and South Asia, each arranged chronologically. The Chinese gallery shows pottery from the Zhou to Qing dynasties alongside jades and hardstones. The Korean room displays Goryeo and Joseon ceramics and bronze mirrors. The Egyptian gallery holds mummies, coffins and smaller artefacts like a 1360 BC figurine of a serving girl. Temporary exhibitions have covered topics such as the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition and the Chinese Labour Corps in the First World War. Outside, the hilltop setting offers views across Durham’s historic city and the surrounding countryside.