The History and Ongoing Development of Computing

Located in Bletchley Park as an independent museum, The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) brings to life the history and ongoing development of computing for the inspiration and enjoyment of the general public and computing enthusiasts.

TNMOC acquires, conserves, restores, and rebuilds historic computing machinery and related artefacts. The museum displays and interprets its exhibits to tell the history of modern computing, with a particular emphasis on British contributions. Many of the exhibits are maintained in working condition and regularly demonstrated, including the Turing-Welchman Bombe and Colossus code-breaking machines from WWII, the Harwell Dekatron Computer, the world’s oldest still working original computer dating from 1951, mainframe computers and minicomputers from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, through home and personal computers of the 90s, to modern tablet computers and smartphones.

The museum runs a highly successful Sandford Awarded learning programme for schools and colleges that introduces computing technology and coding to young people to help inspire the next generation of computer scientists and engineers. It also runs a popular ongoing programme of hands-on activities during school holidays and offers lectures and interactive events on-site and via remote Internet access.