About
The Collection Museum stands as Lincoln's premier cultural destination, bringing together exceptional archaeology and fine art collections under one stunning contemporary roof. Opened in 2005 following the merger of the Usher Gallery and Lincoln City and County Museum, this purpose-built museum provides a magnificent home for collections spanning 300,000 years of Lincolnshire heritage, from prehistoric flint tools to twentieth-century paintings. The building's award-winning modern architecture creates a bright, welcoming space that beautifully showcases both ancient treasures and artistic masterpieces.
The museum's archaeological collections are among the finest in Britain, with particular strength in Roman material from Lincoln (Lindum Colonia), one of the four provincial capitals of Roman Britain. Spectacular finds from excavations across the ancient city reveal the sophistication of Romano-British life through mosaics, sculpture, pottery, jewelry, and everyday objects. The collection chronicles Lincoln's evolution from legionary fortress established around 60 CE through its development as a thriving civilian town, one of the most important cities in Roman Britain. Medieval archaeology includes significant finds from Lincoln's role as a major medieval city and center of the wool trade, while prehistoric collections trace human activity in Lincolnshire from the Stone Age through the Iron Age.
Complementing the archaeology, The Collection holds significant fine and decorative art collections originally assembled by James Ward Usher, the Lincoln jeweler and philanthropist. His generous bequest includes important paintings, watercolors, decorative arts, and miniatures spanning four centuries of European art. Highlights include works by Turner, de Wint, and Lowry, as well as exquisite porcelain, clocks, and watches that reflect Usher's refined taste and passion for collecting. Temporary exhibition galleries host changing displays of contemporary art and special themed exhibitions, ensuring repeat visits offer fresh experiences.
With free admission to permanent collections, a central location near Lincoln Cathedral, engaging displays suitable for all ages, and collections that trace Lincolnshire from prehistoric times to the present day, The Collection Museum provides an enriching cultural experience that celebrates both local heritage and artistic excellence. The museum serves as an essential introduction to understanding Lincoln's extraordinary history as one of Britain's most significant ancient cities.
Categories:
Annual Visitors (2019)
100,000
Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
📅 Best Times to Visit
Quietest: Monday, Tuesday, Friday
Busiest: Saturday, Sunday
💡 Weekday mornings (10:00-12:00) for quietest experience
💡 Visitor Tips
- Allow at least two hours for a comprehensive visit, longer if you have particular interest in Roman archaeology or British art. The collections are extensive and reward careful viewing, particularly the Roman mosaics and de Wint watercolors.
- The Collection is perfectly positioned for exploring Lincoln's historic Bailgate area - combine your visit with Lincoln Cathedral (4 minutes), Lincoln Castle with Magna Carta (3 minutes), and the Medieval Bishop's Palace (5 minutes) for a full day of heritage exploration.
- The Roman collection is world-class and essential viewing for anyone interested in Roman Britain. Take time to appreciate the mosaics, sculpture, and everyday objects that reveal the sophistication of life in Lindum Colonia, one of Roman Britain's most important cities.
- Free guided tours are available by booking in advance, offering expert insights into the collections and Lincoln's history. These tours significantly enhance understanding and are highly recommended, especially for first-time visitors.
- The museum café serves good quality refreshments at reasonable prices and provides a pleasant break during your visit. The museum shop offers excellent books about Roman and medieval Lincoln, local history, and quality gifts featuring the collections.
- Photography is permitted throughout most galleries but flash is prohibited to protect artworks and artifacts. The Roman mosaics and de Wint watercolors make particularly rewarding subjects for museum photography enthusiasts.
- Open seven days a week including Sundays (10:00-16:00), making The Collection convenient for weekend visitors exploring Lincoln. However, weekday mornings are typically quieter if you prefer a more contemplative viewing experience.
- The building itself is architecturally significant - the modern design creates bright, well-lit spaces that beautifully showcase both archaeology and art. The visible conservation laboratory offers fascinating glimpses into behind-the-scenes museum work, demonstrating active research and conservation.
Highlights
The Lincoln Roman Collection
This world-class collection showcases the archaeological richness of Lindum Colonia, one of the four provincial capitals of Roman Britain. Following the Roman conquest around 60 CE, Lincoln became first a legionary fortress and then a flourishing civilian town, leaving an extraordinary archaeological legacy.
The collection includes stunning mosaics recovered from Roman townhouses, demonstrating the sophistication of domestic decoration among Lincoln's Romano-British elite.
Sculptural fragments, tombstones, and architectural elements reveal the monumental public buildings that adorned the ancient city. Pottery, glass, jewelry, and everyday objects provide intimate glimpses into daily life across all social classes. Particularly significant are finds associated with the Roman military presence, including military equipment, weapons, and items from the legionary fortress.
This collection is essential for understanding Roman Britain and Lincoln's crucial role as an administrative and commercial center in the province.
Peter de Wint Watercolor Collection
The Collection holds an outstanding assemblage of works by Peter de Wint (1784-1849), the celebrated watercolorist who developed a deep connection with Lincolnshire through his marriage to Harriet Hilton of Lincoln. De Wint's luminous landscapes capture the distinctive character of the Lincolnshire countryside with extraordinary sensitivity to light, atmosphere, and seasonal variation.
His paintings of Lincoln Cathedral, medieval buildings, and rural scenes provide both artistic masterpieces and valuable historical records of the county in the early nineteenth century.
The collection demonstrates de Wint's mastery of watercolor technique, his innovative approach to composition, and his ability to find beauty in everyday rural life. These works represent some of the finest examples of British watercolor painting and offer viewers a glimpse of Lincolnshire's landscape through the eyes of one of the medium's greatest practitioners.
The Usher Decorative Arts Collection
James Ward Usher, the Lincoln jeweler and philanthropist, assembled an exceptional collection of decorative arts that reveals refined taste and passionate collecting across multiple disciplines. The collection's strength lies in exquisite porcelain from major European manufacturers including Meissen, Sèvres, and Derby, showcasing the technical and artistic achievements of eighteenth and nineteenth-century ceramics.
Usher's horological collection features rare clocks and watches demonstrating the evolution of timekeeping technology and decorative metalwork.
Miniature portraits painted on ivory represent a delicate art form at its finest, while enamels, silver, and jewelry display craftsmanship across various decorative arts. This collection, bequeathed to Lincoln in 1927, provides insight into Edwardian collecting culture and offers visitors the opportunity to appreciate decorative arts of exceptional quality rarely seen outside major metropolitan museums.
Medieval Lincoln and the Wool Trade
During the medieval period, Lincoln ranked among England's wealthiest and most important cities, its prosperity built on the wool trade that made England rich. This collection documents medieval Lincoln through archaeological finds, artifacts, and displays explaining the city's economic and social development from the Norman Conquest through the late medieval period.
Finds from excavations include pottery, metalwork, leather goods, and architectural elements from churches, merchants' houses, and civic buildings.
The collection illustrates how Lincoln's position on major trade routes and its thriving wool trade supported a population of merchants, craftsmen, and religious institutions. Artifacts from Lincoln Cathedral and medieval churches demonstrate the religious patronage that great wealth enabled. Understanding medieval Lincoln is essential for appreciating how the city transitioned from its Roman glory through medieval prosperity to later decline before nineteenth-century revival.
Collections
The Collection Museum holds approximately 2 million objects spanning 300,000 years of Lincolnshire heritage, making it one of the most comprehensive county museum collections in Britain. Archaeological holdings are particularly strong, with Roman material from Lindum Colonia representing one of the finest Roman city collections outside London.
The Usher bequest forms the core of fine and decorative arts collections, including paintings, watercolors, miniatures, porcelain, clocks, watches, and jewelry assembled by James Ward Usher and bequeathed to Lincoln in 1927.
Archaeological collections include significant prehistoric, Romano-British, Anglo-Saxon, and medieval material from excavations across Lincolnshire. Natural history collections, though not currently on permanent display, include geological specimens and taxidermy. Archives and photographic collections document Lincolnshire's social history.
The merger of the Usher Gallery and Lincoln City and County Museum created this comprehensive repository celebrating Lincolnshire's rich cultural, artistic, and archaeological heritage.
Roman Lincoln - Lindum Colonia
This comprehensive gallery explores Lincoln's significance as one of the four provincial capitals of Roman Britain, showcasing exceptional archaeological finds from across the ancient city. The exhibition begins with the Roman conquest and establishment of the legionary fortress around 60 CE, then traces Lincoln's evolution into a thriving civilian town.
Spectacular mosaics from Romano-British townhouses demonstrate domestic luxury, while architectural fragments, sculpture, and tombstones reveal the monumental public buildings that adorned Lindum Colonia.
Pottery, glass, jewelry, and everyday objects provide insights into daily life across social classes. Military equipment illustrates the fortress period and ongoing garrison presence. Interactive displays and reconstructions help visitors visualize Roman Lincoln, understanding how the ancient street plan still shapes the modern city.
📍 Ground Floor
Art Through the Ages - The Usher Collection
Displaying the finest works from James Ward Usher's generous bequest, this gallery celebrates British and European art from the seventeenth through twentieth centuries. Highlights include watercolors by Turner, de Wint, and Cotman, paintings by Lowry, and exquisite miniature portraits.
The decorative arts component showcases European porcelain from major manufacturers, rare clocks and watches demonstrating horological innovation, and jewelry revealing changing fashion and craftsmanship.
The collection reflects Edwardian collecting tastes and Usher's personal passion for beauty and quality. Displays provide biographical context about Usher, explain his relationship with Lincoln, and demonstrate how his philanthropy transformed the city's cultural life. This gallery offers a rare opportunity to experience decorative arts of exceptional quality in a regional setting.
📍 First Floor
Lincolnshire Through Time - Archaeology Gallery
This chronological journey through Lincolnshire's deep past begins with Stone Age flint tools from hunter-gatherer communities and continues through Bronze Age metalwork, Iron Age settlements, and up to the eve of the Roman conquest. The exhibition explores how changing climates, technologies, and societies shaped human life in Lincolnshire over millennia.
Highlights include important finds from the Lincolnshire wetlands where exceptional preservation has yielded organic materials rarely surviving elsewhere.
Bronze Age burial goods demonstrate ritual practices and belief systems, while Iron Age material reveals increasingly complex societies with continental connections. Medieval displays document Lincoln's prosperity from the wool trade and its importance as an ecclesiastical center. Together these collections trace 300,000 years of human activity in the county.
📍 Ground Floor
Peter de Wint Gallery
A dedicated gallery celebrates Peter de Wint's luminous watercolors capturing Lincolnshire's distinctive landscape and Lincoln's historic architecture. De Wint's connection to Lincoln through marriage brought him frequently to the county, where he found endless inspiration in the wide skies, agricultural landscape, and medieval city.
His paintings document early nineteenth-century Lincolnshire with artistic brilliance and historical accuracy.
The gallery explores de Wint's watercolor techniques, his innovative approach to composition and light, and his influence on British landscape painting.
Rotating selections from the collection ensure different works appear regularly, while biographical displays explain de Wint's life and his relationship with Lincolnshire. This focused presentation allows visitors to appreciate one of Britain's finest watercolorists in depth.
📍 First Floor
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.