Project Tullie FAQ

The Castle Street project is the next stage of development at Tullie. It builds on earlier Phase 2 works, including recent improvements to the café and Gatehouse, and focuses on renovating a group of historic buildings on Castle Street. 

The works cover numbers 6 – 16 Castle Street, from the Dyeworks building through to the building next to the Old City Hall, where the new lift lobby is now located. 

Tullie took ownership of these buildings in December 2022. They have been unused for over 15 years and are in need of significant repair. Our aim is to bring them back into use by creating: 

• Ground floor accessible space for community activities and events 

• Creative spaces including office and meeting spaces on the upper floors 

This project will help us better support creative, cultural and community programmes in the future. 

Building works started in December 2025. Construction is expected to continue until the end of March 2026, with an aim for all works to be complete by summer 2026.  

For the most part, no. The Castle Street area is largely self-contained, and the works should not impact general museum activities, exhibitions or public spaces. 

No, the Castle Street buildings under construction are currently not in use and self-contained so this area will remain inaccessible to the public and no disruption caused.  

Yes. Tullie remains open as usual, and we continue to welcome visitors. Please see our homepage to find the latest things to see and do at Tullie.   

We are managing safety alongside our appointed contractors Roland Hill. The is no access to any areas where works are taking place. All construction activity will comply with relevant health and safety standards. 

Yes. We’ll be sharing updates on social media channels, on the website or through the press, as the project progresses. This will include any highlights and news about the new spaces as they take shape. Please follow us to be the first to hear about any updates. 

We are working with our designer De Matos Ryan Architects to create contemporary, welcoming spaces with the community as the end user, as our priority. These new spaces will be a valuable resource for Tullie’s creative, cultural and community work. 

The regeneration of 6-16 Castle Street has been made possible through the generous support of The Architectural Heritage Fund (through the Heritage Revival Fund); Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Capital Fund Programme; The Energy Efficiency Fund, a funding partnership between The Linbury Trust, the Wolfson Foundation and The Headley Trust, with support from Ashden Climate Solutions; the Benny Walker Charitable Trust and the Foyle Foundation.

As a charitable trust, we are continuing to fundraise for the further development of these spaces and the activity within, alongside our fundraising efforts for other phases of Project Tullie and our day-to-day community activity.  

Tullie’s Environmental Strategy will guide our sustainability approach throughout, including the recycling and reuse of materials, and the reduction in energy use where possible. We aim to use local suppliers and materials to reduce travel costs and invest back into our local economy.  

We will take a more sustainable approach to our M&E including installing an Air Source Heat pump as our main heating system and upgrading our lighting to LEDs throughout.   

The Border Galleries has remained relatively unchanged over 30 years. While we know it may hold many fond memories, but we think it is due for a positive change which will let us tell more stories and show a much higher percentage of the objects that we care for on the city’s behalf.  

During public consultation, one of the things we heard most from visitors was that they wanted to see more collections and more change. In response to that, we are developing plans for a gallery meets collection store experience, which will take the place of the Border Galleries and allow for a more dynamic, shifting offer with far more collections on display. This new space will allow us to house over 100,000 objects from the collection in a purpose built engaging and exciting new experience.  

This work is part of the next stage of our phased redevelopment project, Project Tullie, which has previously seen us open The Costume Collection and transform our Welcome Space, Shop and Café Tullie, along with opening the new Carlisle Gallery.  

While much planning has already begun behind the scenes, work to transform the Border Galleries will be starting from early 2026.  

From 12 January, parts of the Border Galleries will be off limits. The railway carriages, badger tunnel, and access routes to the Wildlife Dome and Costume Gallery will remain open at this stage, though some areas will be temporarily out of bounds. 

From 23 February, the Border Galleries will fully close. Although they won’t be changing, the Costume Gallery and Wildlife Dome will also close at this point. These temporary closures will make access easier for our staff and contractors and ensure work can take place safely as we transform the Border Galleries to create an amazing new experience, getting over 100,000 objects from the collection out onto display. 

None of our future plans will require full site closure, but as mentioned above sections of the museum will become inaccessible for work to be carried out safely. We will be sure to make this clear on our website and at the desk when buying a ticket.  

We are aiming to complete the next stage of redevelopment work by summer 2027. We will keep you updated.  

Our annual ticket is £16 and gives you unlimited access to all galleries and exhibitions for 12 months. We also have a day ticket for £8.50 for those one off visits. Under-18s are completely free.

We have a packed programme of events and activities to complement our gallery spaces, many of which are free to annual ticket holders. Our exciting and varied exhibition programme offers world-class experiences all included in the ticket price. Our alternative day ticket is competitively priced and offers great value when compared to other museums and attractions. As an independent charitable trust, it is also crucial that we maintain a steady income during periods of redevelopment to allow us to care for the collection, support our staff, and keep the doors open!  

Once we begin work, the Border Galleries will completely transform – prioritising accessible collections display over set dressing. This means that the 1990s set displays, including the train carriages and badger tunnel, will have to go, but we will look to reuse or rehome everything responsibly. While all collections items will be re-displayed or safely stored, it’s important to emphasise that some aspects of the existing gallery are set dressing rather than accessioned parts of the collection.  

We are looking to recruit more volunteers to help give visitors the best experience of our new spaces and help us operate seven days a week. 

We would recommend also keeping an eye out for any further consultation we do around the Phase 3 transformation. After all, these exciting plans are built on feedback and ideas from you – our visitors and community. 

Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram and sign up to our regular enewsletters (scroll to the bottom of this page) to stay up to date.  

You can view our current job vacancies here: https://tullie.org.uk/get-involved/jobs/ . Any further opportunities will be posted here and on our social media channels. 

As well as the physical changes to the museum offer, we will be developing a whole programme of events and activities to bring the space and collections to life and create an even more exciting and varied offer.  

We will also be creating a new additional learning studio, which will allow us to grow our schools offer and provide more facilities for the community.  

The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) are the main funders for Phase 3. In 2022 NLHF released a small grant for us to develop the project idea and consult with our local communities. Following our full application in May 2024, they announced in October 2024 that we had secured a further £4.4m in funding to deliver the project. 

Funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund joins a further £1.8m already pledged by various trusts and foundations alongside a significant commitment from Cumberland Council.