North East Nature Archive
Your support helps us to preserve and celebrate the social history of natural history in the North East.
A record of natural history in the North East
NHSN was founded in 1829 to promote the study of natural history, and to provide opportunities for research and education.
Our North East nature archive, housed within the Great North Museum: Hancock, is home to thousands of documents, artworks and photographs. It is considered to be a significant regional resource for the study of local social history, the history of art in the North East, and the study of natural history across the region.
Our archive collections
Collected over almost two centuries, NHSN’s archive brings together the work, research, and personal stories of a long line of North East naturalists.
The items contained within and the stories they hold provide inspiration for writers, artists, naturalists, scientists, and researchers.
These collections and archives can be used as a rich source of evidence to explore the nature of collection-building in the 18th and 19th centuries and to develop biographical accounts of collectors, artists and illustrators.
Search our collections
You can search our archive online here. The collection search includes items from all Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums‘ collections and organisations.
To limit your search to NHSN collections, add ‘NEWHM’ to your list of keywords. To search the NHSN Archive collection, select ‘Natural Sciences’ from the Department list and select ‘Archive’ from the collection list.
NHSN has been my inspiration and means of obtaining local natural history knowledge ever since I joined when I was 11. I am 70 next on my next birthday.
NHSN Member
News from the Archive and Library
Nature’s Cure in Times of Need
What does nature mean to you during difficult times? Maybe a familiar walk helps you feel grounded during times of uncertainty, or the sound of birdsong brings you peace. Whatever your story of ‘nature’s cure in time of need’, we want to hear it.
We’d like to hear from people from all over the North East. How do you connect with nature during times of need? If you wish, your contribution will be added to the North East Nature Archive’s ‘Nature’s Cure in Time of Need: New Voices for North East Nature’ collection.