A heritage centre, center, or museum is a public facility – typically a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

, visitor centre, or

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

– that is primarily dedicated to the presentation of

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...

information about a place and its people, and often also including, to some degree, the area's natural history. Heritage centres typically differ from most traditional museums in featuring a high proportion of "hands-on" exhibits and live or lifelike

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

s and practical artifacts. Some are

open-air museums An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

– heritage parks – devoted to depiction of daily life or occupational activity at a particular time and place, and may feature re-creations of typical buildings of an era. Such sites are often used for experimental archaeology, and as shooting locations for

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

and historical-fiction films and television. A few are rebuilt

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

s, using the excavated foundations of original buildings, some restore historic structures that were not yet lost, while others are mock-ups built near actual sites of

historic value Historic value (or historical value) is an increase in value because of historical aging. Original materials and signs of craftmanship are important to historic value, while later-date changes can diminish it. Records and documents With regard to ...

(which may still be subject to ongoing excavation, study, and preservation). Many also have living museum features, such as costumed staff, demonstrations of and short courses in historical craft-working, dramatic presentations (live-action mock combat, etc.), and other

living history Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to ree ...

activities. Others may be more narrowly focused on a particular occupation or industry, such as rail transport or the early factories or mines around which a community developed. The distinction between a heritage centre or park, and a history-based

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

can become blurred, as at

Nikko Edomura is a Japanese cultural theme park in the Kinugawa Onsen area of Nikkō, Tochigi. The park resurrects and showcases the life and culture of the Edo period. Edo Wonderland spans a site area of 122.3 acres (49.5 hectares). The park's design is ...

, focused on

Feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to Japanese Paleolithic, prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millenni ...

, and

Wild West City Wild West City is a Wild West theme park based on 1880s Dodge City, Kansas, located in Stanhope, New Jersey. In popular culture The park was used as a filming location for ''The Whitest Kids U' Know ''The Whitest Kids U' Know'' (''WKUK'') is an ...

, a self-described "heritage theme park" about the American Old West.

Examples, by theme

General and multi-era

Gower Heritage Centre Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...

Irish National Heritage Park The Irish National Heritage Park is an open-air museum near Wexford which tells the story of human settlement in Ireland from the Mesolithic period right up to the Norman Invasion in 1169. It has 16 reconstructed dwellings including a mesolit ...

Ryedale Folk Museum Hutton-le-Hole is a small village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about north-west of Pickering. It is a popular scenic village within the North York Moors National Park. Sheep roam the streets at will. ...

* St Fagans National Museum of History *

Telugu Saamskruthika Niketanam Telugu Saamskruthika Niketanam, also called World Telugu Museum, is located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. Objectives The museum's main objective is to show Telugu history and culture from the Satavahana dynasty until modern times. ...

(World Telugu Museum)

Former life-ways in particular eras

Butser Ancient Farm Butser Ancient Farm is an archaeological open-air museum and experimental archaeology site located near Petersfield, Hampshire, Petersfield in Hampshire, southern England. Butser features experimental reconstructions of prehistoric, Romano-Britis ...

* Castell Henllys * Columbia State Historic Park * Craggaunowen * Flag Fen Bronze and Iron Age Centre * Iron-Age-Danube project *

Peat Moors Centre The Peat Moors Centre lay on the road between Shapwick and Westhay in Somerset, England. The centre was run by the Somerset Historic Environment Service, but Somerset County Council closed it in October 2009 in the course of budget cuts. T ...

Preservation Park Preservation Park is located in Oakland, California. The park includes sixteen historic buildings, five of which stand in their original location, and eleven of which were moved from elsewhere in Oakland, California, Oakland to avoid demolition. T ...

South Park City South Park City is an open-air museum located at the west end of Front Street in the town of Fairplay in Park County, Colorado. Open from May 15 through October 15, the museum is a historic reconstruction of a mining town from the days of the Co ...

West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village is an archaeological site and an open-air museum located near to West Stow in Suffolk, eastern England. Evidence for intermittent human habitation at the site stretches from the Mesolithic through the Neolithic, Bro ...

History of transport, industry, and occupations

Bideford Railway Heritage Centre The Bideford Railway Heritage Centre CIC (previously the Bideford and Instow Railway Group) in Devon, England, is responsible for the management of the Bideford station site. The company is also responsible for Instow signal box which opens on ...

* Castlefield *

Crewe Heritage Centre Crewe Heritage Centre is a railway museum located in Crewe, England. Managed by the Crewe Heritage Trust, the museum is located between the railway station and the town centre; the site was the location of the 'Old Works' which was demolished in ...

Elsecar Heritage Centre Elsecar Heritage Centre is a visitor attraction centre in Elsecar, Barnsley, England. Operated by Barnsley Museums, it has independent shops, studios, galleries, cafes and a large antiques centre in former Victorian engineering workshops. A vis ...

* Gabriel Babb Heritage Centre *

Heritage Motor Centre The British Motor Museum in Warwickshire, England holds the world's largest collection of historic British cars, with over 300 cars on display from the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Heritage Trust. History The creation o ...

Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre The Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre is an aviation museum in East Kirkby, Lincolnshire, England. It was opened to the public in 1988 by Lincolnshire farmers Fred and Harold Panton, as a memorial to their older brother, Christopher Whitton P ...

Lowell National Historical Park Lowell National Historical Park is a National Historical Park of the United States located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Established in 1978 a few years after Lowell Heritage State Park, it is operated by the National Park Service and comprises a g ...

Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre The Nottingham Heritage Railway (formerly known as Great Central Railway (Nottingham) and Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre) is a heritage railway and transport museum on the south side of the village of Ruddington in Nottinghamshire. The ...

* Rhondda Heritage Park * Royal Canadian Mounted Police Heritage Centre

References

{{Reflist Types of museums Cultural heritage *Heritage centre

Examples, by theme

General and multi-era

Former life-ways in particular eras

History of transport, industry, and occupations

See also

References