The Chantry was founded as a place for prayers to be said in memory of its donors.
Following that it was used as a school from the 1550s to 1846, a cholera hospital and a mineral water factory, before being restored and used as a museum and craft centre.
In the charming Chantry building, visitors to the Bagpipe Museum can:
- Discover a unique piece of Northumberland’s heritage: the Northumbrian small pipes
- Browse the displays of pipes and panels to learn how the local small pipes differ from the famous Highland war pipes
- Experience the William Alfred Cocks’ collection of bagpipes, including: Ivory small pipes belonging to Robert Bewick (son of engraver Thomas Bewick), a miniature set made for Queen Mary’s dolls’ house, set of pipes from the Jaocbite Rising and richly decorated French pipes from the court of French King Louis XIV