Celebrating 30 Years of Lara Croft at Derby's Tomb Raider Exhibit

Pickford's House turned into Croft Manor

This article is not about me, but having the surname Croft and living in Derby is quite the combination when one of the city's biggest claims to fame is it's the birthplace of Lara Croft. I was born and grew up here, I support the football team home and away, and I do not ever see myself moving all that far away — I'm a Croft living in the birthplace of Lara Croft.

I'm a 1994 kid, now 31. The house I grew up in was on Arnold Street, just a stone's throw away from the original studio's doorstep. Two years after my birth, the first Tomb Raider game was released. Lara Croft was being created and the title in development just five minutes away from my house — it's kind of crazy how deep the rabbit hole goes.

The city is proud of the fact the Tomb Raider series was created here, thanks to Core Design, naming a street Lara Croft Way. Now, as the franchise turns 30, a museum I visited when I was young, Pickford's House, has put on an exhibition to celebrate the video game icon.

Earlier this week, I toured the exhibit to see how Pickford's House has been transformed into Croft Manor. Decorating the walls and filling its rooms with memorabilia, collectibles, and development materials, I present to you what I found.

It was on Tuesday morning I visited the exhibit, taking the route down to Markeaton Island and then onto Ashbourne Road I'd usually use to reach the train station when I'm going to preview events in London. The cool thing is the original building that Core Design worked out of just so happens to be on that same street: 55 Ashbourne Road. Here it is today:

Pickford's House is only a few minutes' walk from the landmark, with various rooms of the museum transformed to look like Croft Manor. Unfortunately, the chap at reception wouldn't let me lock him in the building's freezer, so I made my way up to the exhibit to see what's what.

Room 1: The Origin Story

Core Design didn't just make the first Tomb Raider game; it was the developer on all the entries up until — and including — the infamous PS2 game The Angel of Darkness. The first room in the exhibit charts this journey from PS1 to PS2, and all the titles in between.

Here you can see one of the actual computers the original Tomb Raider was designed on, as well as design documents from development. There's a black PS1 devkit, sales awards, and copies of all the different games in the franchise.

Core Design created the following instalments:

• Tomb Raider (1996)
• Tomb Raider II (1997)
• Tomb Raider III (1998)
• Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (1999)
• Tomb Raider: Chronicles (2000)
• Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (2003)

It still touches on more modern games, with statues and boxes from Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, but there's a clear focus on telling the story of Core Design and its efforts to make Lara Croft a star. Information plastered on the walls dives deep into the studio's history.

Room 2: Movie Mania

Not only is Lara Croft a video game character, but she's also a movie and TV show star. The second room in the exhibit touches on her appearances in media outside of games, like The Cradle of Life and the 2018 film with Alicia Vikander.

There are also posters of her from advertisements and an interactive game where you can find codes throughout the exhibit to break a padlock.

Room 3: Life After Core Design

The exhibit concludes by looking at what the Tomb Raider series had to offer once Core Design wasn't at the helm, as it was acquired by Rebellion in 2006 and then shut down in 2010.

Imagery and collectibles come from the most recent Tomb Raider trilogy on PS3 through to PS4, as well as two stations that let you play classic Lara Croft titles from the PS1 days. Much of the exhibit is focused on the physical items and memorabilia from over the years, with most of the information designed to explain Core Design's history.

If you're in the area and have even a passing interest in Tomb Raider or the history of video games in general, I think the Lara Croft exhibit at Pickford's House is worth a visit. The rooms form part of a larger tour through history in the museum, and this aspect celebrates Derby and one of its finest creations.

Core Design's original work will be brought back next year in a PS5 remake titled Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis. After that, there'll be a completely new entry in Tomb Raider Catalyst.

The Lara Croft: 30 Years On - From Derby to Global Icon exhibit is at Pickford's House until 28th November 2026 and is free of charge to visit — but donations are appreciated. Will you visit in the coming months, and what do you think of the exhibit? Let us know in the comments below.