About
Charnwood Museum is the principal museum for the Charnwood borough, housed in the historic Queens Hall on Granby Street in the heart of Loughborough. Opened in 1999, the museum tells the story of the people, landscape, and industries of Charnwood from prehistoric times to the present day, providing a comprehensive and accessible introduction to one of Leicestershire's most distinctive areas.
The museum's collections span the full breadth of Charnwood's heritage, from the ancient geology of Charnwood Forest — one of the oldest exposed rock surfaces in England, containing Precambrian fossils of international scientific significance — through to the industries that shaped modern Loughborough. The town's long association with the hosiery and knitwear trade is explored through original machinery, products, and personal accounts of workers in the framework knitting and later factory-based industries that dominated the local economy for centuries.
A particular highlight is the museum's coverage of John Taylor & Co, the world's largest working bell foundry, which has been based in Loughborough since 1839. The foundry has cast bells for cathedrals, churches, and civic buildings across the globe, including the bells of York Minster and Loughborough's own War Memorial Carillon Tower. The museum displays bell-founding artifacts and explains the skilled craft of bell making that continues in the town today.
Charnwood Museum also features galleries devoted to local wildlife, Charnwood Forest ecology, domestic and social life through the centuries, and the stories of notable local figures. Interactive displays and a programme of changing exhibitions ensure the museum remains a lively community resource, welcoming families, school groups, and researchers alike.
Categories:
Annual Visitors (2019)
25,000
Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
📅 Best Times to Visit
Quietest: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Busiest: Saturday
💡 Weekday mornings for the quietest experience; Saturday mornings are popular with families
💡 Visitor Tips
- Charnwood Museum is free to enter with donations welcome. Allow around an hour for a thorough visit, or 30 minutes if you want to focus on the highlights — the geology and bell-founding displays are particularly rewarding.
- The museum is closed on Mondays and Sundays. Check the website before visiting as hours may vary during school holidays and for special events.
- Combine your visit with a walk to the Loughborough War Memorial Carillon Tower in Queens Park, just 5 minutes away. If your visit coincides with a carillon recital, the experience of hearing 47 Taylor bells played live is unforgettable.
- The Great Central Railway, Britain's only double-track main line heritage railway, runs steam and diesel services from Loughborough Central station about 20 minutes' walk from the museum — an excellent combined day out.
- Families with children will enjoy the interactive displays and handling objects. Ask staff about activity sheets and trails designed for younger visitors.
- The museum is fully accessible with step-free access throughout. All displays are at wheelchair-friendly heights with wide aisles between exhibits.
- Loughborough has a thriving weekly market held on Thursdays and Saturdays in the Market Place, a short walk from the museum. The town also hosts a famous annual fair in November — one of the largest street fairs in Europe.
- There is no cafe in the museum, but Loughborough town centre has plenty of options for refreshments within a few minutes' walk of Granby Street.
Highlights
Charnwood Forest Geology Gallery
An exploration of the ancient rocks of Charnwood Forest, one of the most geologically significant landscapes in England. Charnwood Forest contains some of the oldest exposed rocks in England, dating to the Precambrian period over 560 million years ago. The gallery displays fossils of Charnia masoni, a frond-like organism first identified in Charnwood Forest in 1957 by a local schoolboy — this was the first Precambrian fossil to be recognised anywhere in the world, fundamentally changing scientific understanding of early life on Earth.
Mineral specimens, rock samples, and interpretive panels explain how Charnwood's volcanic past created the distinctive craggy outcrops and thin soils that give the Forest its unique character and ecology.
Hosiery and Knitwear Industry
Loughborough and the surrounding Charnwood villages were at the heart of England's hosiery and knitwear industry for centuries. This display traces the story from the hand-operated stocking frames that cottage workers used from the 17th century, through the factory era that transformed the town in the 19th century, to the modern knitwear firms that continued into living memory.
Original framework knitting machines demonstrate the skilled hand-and-foot coordination required, while samples of hosiery, photographs of factory workers, and oral history recordings bring the human stories of the industry to life.
The display explains how Luddite protests against mechanisation affected Loughborough and the wider East Midlands in the early 19th century.
John Taylor Bell Foundry Collection
John Taylor & Co has been casting bells in Loughborough since 1839 and is recognised as the world's largest working bell foundry. The museum's bell-founding collection includes tools, moulds, photographs, and finished bells that illustrate the complex and ancient craft of bell making.
Taylor's bells hang in cathedrals, churches, and civic buildings across the globe — including the bells of York Minster, the Great Paul for St Paul's Cathedral (the largest bell ever cast in Britain), and Loughborough's own War Memorial Carillon Tower with its 47 bells.
The display explains the painstaking process of bell tuning and the acoustic science behind creating harmonious peals, connecting Loughborough to a worldwide tradition of campanology.
Loughborough War Memorial Carillon
While the Carillon Tower itself stands in Queens Park rather than inside the museum, this dedicated display tells the story of one of Britain's most remarkable war memorials. Completed in 1923, the Carillon Tower contains 47 bells cast by John Taylor & Co and is one of only four grand carillons in the United Kingdom.
The museum exhibition features original documents from the memorial campaign, photographs of the construction, records of the fallen commemorated, and information about carillon music.
Regular recitals are played on the tower's bells throughout the year, and the display provides context for understanding this unique instrument and its significance to the Loughborough community.
Collections
Charnwood Museum holds collections spanning the geology, natural history, archaeology, social history, and industrial heritage of the Charnwood borough. Geological specimens include internationally significant Precambrian fossils from Charnwood Forest alongside minerals and rock samples illustrating the area's volcanic origins.
The industrial collection features framework knitting machines, hosiery industry artifacts, and bell-founding tools and products from John Taylor & Co.
Social history holdings encompass domestic objects, photographs, clothing, toys, and oral history recordings documenting everyday life in Loughborough and surrounding villages from the Victorian period onwards. Archaeological material includes prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, and medieval finds from local excavations.
Natural history specimens represent the distinctive flora and fauna of Charnwood Forest.
The museum's archive includes maps, documents, photographs, and ephemera relating to the borough's development.
Charnwood Forest: An Ancient Landscape
Geological displays exploring the Precambrian rocks of Charnwood Forest, the discovery of Charnia masoni, and the formation of one of England's oldest and most distinctive landscapes.
📍 Ground Floor Gallery
Industry and Enterprise
The story of Loughborough's industries — hosiery, knitwear, bell founding, and engineering — told through machinery, products, photographs, and the voices of workers.
📍 Industry Gallery
People of Charnwood
Social history of the borough from medieval market town through Victorian expansion to the present, featuring domestic objects, personal stories, and community memories.
📍 Main Gallery
Wildlife of Charnwood
Natural history displays featuring specimens and information about the distinctive habitats and species found in Charnwood Forest and the surrounding Leicestershire countryside.
📍 Natural History Section
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.