About
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery is Carlisle's principal museum and one of the most important cultural institutions in the north-west of England, holding collections of national significance across archaeology, fine art, natural history, and social history. Located on Castle Street in the heart of Carlisle, adjacent to the castle and cathedral, Tullie House occupies a Jacobean mansion dating from 1689 that has been extended and adapted over more than a century of museum use into a complex of galleries that ranges from intimate period rooms to modern purpose-built exhibition spaces.
The museum's Roman and Hadrian's Wall collections are its greatest single strength and a resource of genuinely national importance. Carlisle — the Roman Luguvalium — was one of the most significant military and civilian settlements on Hadrian's Wall, and the archaeological material recovered from the city and its surrounding area over more than two centuries of excavation is extensive, varied, and often of remarkable quality. Roman altars, tombstones, military equipment, personal possessions, and the remains of everyday life in a frontier garrison town are displayed in galleries that set the individual objects within the broader narrative of Rome's most northerly frontier province.
The art collection is anchored by an important group of Pre-Raphaelite paintings and drawings that reflects the movement's influence on Victorian art and culture. Works by members of the Brotherhood and their wider circle — including significant pieces that demonstrate the movement's characteristic combination of intense colour, literary subject matter, and meticulous naturalistic detail — are supplemented by a broader survey of British art from the seventeenth century to the present that includes landscape painting, portraiture, and contemporary works by artists with connections to Cumbria and the north-west.
The natural history galleries explore the remarkable biodiversity of Cumbria — a county whose landscapes range from the high fells and glacial lakes of the Lake District to the salt marshes and sand dunes of the Solway coast, and from the limestone pavements of the southern dales to the ancient woodlands of the border country. The collections document the geology, flora, and fauna of these diverse habitats with specimens, models, and interactive displays that make the natural history of the region accessible and engaging.
Tullie House also serves as the keeper of Carlisle's social and industrial history, documenting the story of a city that has been a significant settlement since Roman times and whose position on the Anglo-Scottish border has given it a turbulent and fascinating past. The museum's collections relating to the Border Reivers, the English Civil War in Cumbria, and the development of Carlisle as a Victorian railway town are of particular depth and interest.
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Highlights
Roman Carlisle and Hadrian's Wall Collections
Tullie House holds one of the most important collections of Roman material from Hadrian's Wall and the surrounding frontier zone in any museum in Britain. Carlisle — Roman Luguvalium — was a major military and civilian settlement at the western end of the wall, and the archaeological finds from the city and its environs are extensive and often of exceptional quality.
Roman altars and inscriptions, military equipment including swords and armour, personal jewellery, pottery, and glass are displayed in galleries that trace the story of Roman occupation on the northern frontier from the first-century conquest to the end of Roman Britain in the early fifth century.
Pre-Raphaelite Art Collection
The art galleries at Tullie House include an important collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings and drawings that ranks among the finest outside London and the major northern city galleries. Works by members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and their wider circle display the movement's defining characteristics — luminous colour, painstaking naturalistic detail, and subject matter drawn from medieval literature, poetry, and religious narrative.
The collection has been built through careful acquisition over more than a century and includes works that are regularly requested for loan by major national and international exhibitions exploring the Pre-Raphaelite movement.
The Jacobean Tullie House Building
The museum is housed in Tullie House itself — a Jacobean townhouse built in 1689 by the Tullie family and one of the most significant historic buildings in Carlisle.
The original house retains period architectural features including carved wooden panelling, decorative plasterwork, and a fine oak staircase that give parts of the museum a distinctively domestic character quite different from the purpose-built gallery spaces. The contrast between the intimate period rooms of the original house and the modern exhibition galleries of the later extensions creates an architectural journey through the museum that is itself part of the visitor experience.
Cumbrian Natural History Galleries
The natural history collections explore the remarkable environmental diversity of Cumbria — from the volcanic peaks and glacial lakes of the Lake District to the vast tidal mudflats of the Solway Firth, and from ancient oak woodlands to upland blanket bogs. Geological specimens document the complex rock formations that underpin Cumbria's dramatic landscapes, while zoological and botanical collections illustrate the rich biodiversity of the county's varied habitats.
Red squirrels, ospreys, golden eagles, and the native flora of the Cumbrian fells are all represented in displays that combine scientific accuracy with visual impact and environmental awareness.
Collections
Roman Frontier Gallery
The major permanent gallery presenting Tullie House's outstanding Roman and Hadrian's Wall collections, tracing the story of Roman occupation in the Carlisle area from conquest to withdrawal with an exceptional range of archaeological finds.
The Art Gallery
The permanent art galleries displaying Pre-Raphaelite works and the broader British art collection from the seventeenth century to the present, with particular strength in landscape painting and works connected to Cumbria and the north-west.
The Borders Gallery
Permanent displays exploring the turbulent history of the Anglo-Scottish border, from the medieval wars through the era of the Border Reivers to the Act of Union, with weapons, domestic objects, and documentary material that bring this distinctive regional history to life.
Living Landscape: Cumbrian Natural History
The natural history galleries presenting the geology, flora, and fauna of Cumbria's diverse landscapes — from Lake District peaks to Solway coast — with specimens, models, and interactive displays.
Current Exhibitions
A major temporary exhibition exploring daily life on Hadrian's Wall through recent archaeological discoveries and objects from Tullie House's own collections, examining the experiences of soldiers, civilians, and communities living on the Roman Empire's most northerly frontier.