About
The Centre for Computing History in Cambridge is Britain's most interactive museum of computer and technology history, housing one of the largest collections of working vintage computers in the world. Founded by Jason Fitzpatrick and accredited by Arts Council England, the museum preserves and presents the history of computing from the 1930s mechanical calculators through the personal computer revolution of the 1980s to the internet age — with the exceptional distinction that almost everything on display can be switched on and used by visitors.
Cambridge is the natural home for such an institution. The University of Cambridge played a pivotal role in the development of computing: Maurice Wilkes and his team built EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) in Cambridge in 1949, one of the first stored-programme computers to run a programme in the world. Acorn Computers, the Cambridge-based company that created the BBC Micro — perhaps the single most influential computer in British educational history — operated just down the road. The ARM processor, now inside virtually every smartphone on the planet, was developed by a team that included Acorn engineers in Cambridge. The city's relationship with computing is not historical background but living heritage.
The museum's collection spans the full arc of computing history. Mainframe-era punch card readers and paper tape machines occupy one gallery; the golden age of the home computer fills another, with rows of BBC Micros, Sinclair ZX Spectrums, Commodore 64s, Amstrads and Ataris sitting open and operational for visitors to use. Apple Macintosh computers from 1984 onwards trace the graphical user interface revolution. A dedicated gaming history section explores the evolution of video games from Pong through the 8-bit and 16-bit eras to early 3D.
The Centre's ethos is explicitly participatory: visitors are not merely invited to look at computers but to sit down, boot them up, type in BASIC programmes, play period-appropriate games, and experience directly what it felt like to use the machines that defined the digital age. For those who grew up in the 1980s this is vivid nostalgia; for younger visitors it is a revelation — a hands-on encounter with the tangible physical reality of technology whose consequences permeate every aspect of contemporary life.
Categories:
Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- Closed Monday and Tuesday — always check the website before visiting, particularly during school term time when group bookings may affect availability.
- Budget significantly more time than you think you need: sitting down to actually use a BBC Micro or ZX Spectrum invariably takes longer than planned — and is far more enjoyable.
- The museum is particularly wonderful for visitors who were children in the 1980s — the nostalgia factor is intense and the hands-on access to working machines is unlike anything else available.
- Bring headphones if you want to listen to Commodore 64 SID music or play games with sound without disturbing other visitors.
- Free parking is available on site — unusually convenient for a Cambridge museum.
- The museum shop stocks genuine retro computing merchandise and period gaming compilations that make excellent gifts for technology enthusiasts.
- Combine with the Fitzwilliam Museum in central Cambridge for a full cultural day: computing history in the morning, world-class fine and decorative arts in the afternoon.
- School and educational group bookings are strongly encouraged — computing history is now a formal part of the KS3 and KS4 computer science curriculum.
Highlights
The BBC Micro Collection — Britain's National Computer
The BBC Micro, launched by Acorn Computers in 1981 in partnership with the BBC's Computer Literacy Project, became the computer that taught a generation of Britons to program. Placed in virtually every British secondary school, it was the machine on which many of Britain's technology entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers learned to code.
The Centre for Computing History holds the world's most comprehensive collection of working BBC Micro variants — from the original Model A and B through to the Master 128 — all operational and available for visitors to use.
Type PRINT "HELLO WORLD" and experience computing's British golden age.
Sinclair Research — ZX80, ZX81 and the Spectrum
Sir Clive Sinclair's cheap and cheerful approach to home computing democratised the technology in Britain in a way that no other manufacturer matched. The ZX80 (1980) at £99. 95 was the first computer sold in Britain for under £100; the ZX81 reduced it further; and the ZX Spectrum (1982) in its rainbow-striped rubber keyboard form became the definitive British home computer, spawning a games software industry and a generation of bedroom coders.
The museum's Sinclair collection spans the full range of products, all operational, with a library of classic games loaded and ready to play on real rubber-key Spectrums.
The Commodore Collection — C64, VIC-20 and Amiga
Commodore International's machines defined home computing in North America and competed strongly with Sinclair in Britain. The Commodore 64 — launched in 1982 and one of the best-selling personal computers of all time — combined a genuine sound chip (the SID) and sprite graphics that made it the preferred platform for games development throughout the 1980s.
The Amiga (1985) extended this into 16-bit territory with colour graphics, stereo sound and video capabilities that left contemporary PC hardware looking primitive.
The museum's Commodore collection spans VIC-20, C64, C128 and multiple Amiga models, all fully operational.
Apple Mac — The Graphical Revolution
The Apple Macintosh, launched in January 1984 with its famous 1984 Super Bowl commercial, brought the graphical user interface to mainstream consumers for the first time. The museum traces Apple's history from the Apple I and Apple II through the original Macintosh and its successors, showing how mouse-based point-and-click computing replaced text commands and transformed the relationship between humans and computers.
Early desktop publishing software, the original MacPaint and MacWrite, and the hardware itself — the compact all-in-one original Mac with its 9-inch screen — are all present and operational.
Collections
The Centre for Computing History holds approximately 6,000 items in its collection, making it one of the largest collections of personal computing hardware in the world. The collection spans punch card machines, early mainframe terminals, the full range of British home computers (BBC Micro, Sinclair, Amstrad, Dragon, Jupiter Ace, Acorn Electron, Oric), American home computers (Apple, Commodore, Atari, TRS-80), professional workstations, early laptops, games consoles and accessories.
A substantial software library encompasses thousands of original tape, disc and cartridge titles for period-appropriate hardware.
The archive holds technical documentation, original packaging, promotional material, period magazines and oral history recordings from computing industry figures. Many items in the collection are actively maintained and available for use by visitors — an operational collection requirement that demands continuous technical expertise from museum staff and volunteers.
From EDSAC to the Internet — A History of Computing
Core chronological exhibition spanning mainframe computing of the 1940s-60s, minicomputer era, personal computer revolution of the 1980s and internet age
The British Home Computer Revolution
Dedicated gallery celebrating the BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad and other machines that defined home computing in Britain during the 1980s
Play It Again — Gaming Through the Decades
Interactive gaming history from Pong to PlayStation with original arcade hardware and home console collection, all playable
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.