About
Preston Park Museum and Grounds is one of Teesside's most popular heritage attractions, combining an engaging social history museum with an iconic recreated Victorian street and 100 acres of beautiful parkland beside the River Tees at Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees. Managed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, the museum has been welcoming visitors since 1953 and offers an absorbing and family-friendly window into the history of Teesside and Victorian Britain.
The museum's centrepiece is the recreated Victorian street — a remarkable indoor environment that transports visitors back to the 1890s through authentically fitted shop fronts and interiors. A chemist, a solicitor's office, a saddler, a printing works, a dentist's surgery and other period premises line the street, each furnished with the tools, products and details of a Victorian small business. This living history display brings the social and commercial world of late Victorian Teesside to life with a vividness that conventional museum display cannot match, and remains one of the most charming and memorable heritage experiences in the North East.
Beyond the Victorian street, the museum's galleries explore the broader social history of the Stockton and Teesside area, from prehistoric times and the Roman period through the medieval era to the industrial age. The development of the Tees as an industrial river — particularly the iron and steel industries and the chemical works that transformed Teesside in the nineteenth century — is explored alongside the domestic and community life of the people who lived and worked in this rapidly changing landscape.
The 100 acres of parkland surrounding the museum are a significant attraction in their own right, offering woodland walks, riverside meadows, a formal garden, a children's play area and a miniature railway that operates during the summer season. The park provides a beautiful natural setting for family days out, with the River Tees forming a scenic boundary and the mature trees providing habitat for a variety of wildlife.
Preston Park Museum also holds an internationally significant collection of Victorian and Edwardian bicycles — one of the finest cycle collections in the world — displayed in the museum's transport galleries alongside other historic vehicles. This collection draws specialist visitors from across Britain and internationally.
Categories:
Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
📅 Best Times to Visit
💡 Visitor Tips
- Museum admission is free — allow extra budget for the miniature railway if visiting in summer.
- The Victorian street is the must-see highlight — allow at least an hour to explore every shop and premises in detail.
- Bring wellies or sturdy shoes if you plan to explore the woodland paths after wet weather.
- The miniature railway operates in summer (April to September) — check the website for operating days before planning around it.
- The park café offers good value refreshments and a welcome mid-visit break.
- The museum is closed on Mondays — plan accordingly.
- Combine with a visit to Stockton town centre to see the site of the world's first steam railway station.
- The park's riverside paths are excellent for a post-museum walk along the Tees — beautiful in any season.
Highlights
Discover the unique exhibits and collections at this museum.
Collections
The Preston Park collection encompasses prehistoric and Roman material from the Tees valley, Victorian and Edwardian social history objects, the internationally significant bicycle collection, domestic and community life objects from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, trade tools, photographs, documentary records and oral history recordings relating to Stockton and Teesside.
Victorian Street
A full-scale recreation of a 1890s commercial street with authentically fitted and furnished Victorian premises — chemist, solicitor, saddler, sweet shop, printing works, dentist and more.
Bicycle Collection
One of the world's finest collections of Victorian and Edwardian bicycles, tracing the evolution of cycling from hobby horse to safety bicycle and Edwardian touring machine.
Teesside Story
Social and industrial history of Stockton-on-Tees and Teesside from prehistoric times to the twentieth century, with particular strength in Victorian and Edwardian social history.
Preston Park and Grounds
100 acres of landscaped parkland with riverside meadows, woodland walks, formal gardens and a miniature railway (summer season).
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.