Museums in North West England
179 museums
Anson Engine Museum
Poynton
The engines that powered Britain — the world's finest collection of historic gas and oil engines
Astley Cheetham Art Gallery
Stalybridge
One of the finest collections of Pre-Raphaelite and Victorian art outside the national museums
Astley Hall Museum And Art Gallery
Chorley
Extraordinary Plasterwork, Cromwell's Rest, and a Century of Art in Lancashire
Avro Heritage Museum
Woodford
Vulcan XM603 and ninety years of aircraft production, on the Woodford airfield that built them
BDA Deaf Museum and Archive
Manchester
Britain's collection of Deaf history, sign language and community heritage
Beatrix Potter Gallery
Hawkshead
The original watercolours that enchanted the world — in the office of the solicitor Beatrix Potter married
Beeston Castle
Tarporley
Dramatic medieval castle ruins on a Cheshire crag with views across eight counties
Birdoswald Roman Fort
Brampton
Best-preserved Hadrian's Wall fort with outstanding granaries and post-Roman archaeology
Birkenhead Priory and St Mary's Tower
Birkenhead
Merseyside's oldest building and birthplace of the Mersey ferry — medieval Benedictine ruins with panoramic river views
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
Blackburn
World-class collections in the heart of Lancashire since 1874
Blackwell, The Arts & Crafts House
Bowness-on-Windermere
Blackwell is one of the most complete and best-preserved examples of Arts and Crafts domestic architecture in Britain, set dramatically above the eastern shore…
Bolton Museum and Art Gallery
Bolton
Egyptian mummies, natural wonders, and Lancashire art since 1888
Bramall Hall
Stockport
One of England's finest Tudor timber-framed manor houses, set in 70 acres of Cheshire parkland
British Commercial Vehicle Museum
Leyland
Europe's largest collection of historic commercial vehicles — the story of British road transport
British Music Experience
Liverpool
Seven decades of British music history in Liverpool's iconic Cunard Building
Brough Castle
Brough
A Roman fort site turned medieval castle, restored by the legendary Lady Anne Clifford
Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre
Bury
Turner, Constable, and International Sculpture in the Heart of Greater Manchester
Capesthorne Hall
Siddington
A Jacobean-revival Cheshire country house and ancestral home of the Bromley-Davenport family, set in extensive parkland and lakeside gardens
Cartmel Priory Gatehouse
Cartmel
A fourteenth-century monastic gatehouse straddling the road into Cartmel village, cared for by the National Trust
Catalyst Science Discovery Centre
Widnes
Hands-on science discovery in a landmark Victorian factory building, exploring the chemistry that shaped the modern world
Cheshire Military Museum
Chester
Four Cheshire Regiments, Three Centuries of Service, One Historic Castle
Chetham's Library
Manchester
The English-speaking world's oldest free public library, unchanged since 1653
Clitheroe Castle Museum
Clitheroe
A Thousand Years on the Limestone Crag — Gateway to the Ribble Valley and Forest of Bowland
Crewe Heritage Centre
Crewe
Railway heritage trackside at Crewe, home to the prototype Advanced Passenger Train and a working link to the main line
Cumbria's Museum of Military Life
Carlisle
Three Centuries of Cumbrian Military Service Within the Walls of Carlisle Castle
Dalton Castle
Dalton-in-Furness
Monks, courts, and a painter's birthplace — medieval Furness heritage
Damhouse
Tyldesley
A manor house that became an isolation hospital, rescued by the town that remembered it.
Dewa Roman Experience
Chester
Walk the streets of Roman Chester — one of Britain's greatest legionary fortresses
Dock Museum
Barrow-in-Furness
From hamlet to powerhouse in a generation — the extraordinary story of Barrow's rise as Britain's greatest submarine-building town
Elizabeth Gaskell's House
Manchester
The Manchester home where Elizabeth Gaskell wrote North and South, Cranford, and Wives and Daughters
Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum
Englesea-brook
One of England's oldest Primitive Methodist chapels — faith, social reform and working-class Christianity
Fireground - Greater Manchester Fire Service Museum
Rochdale
Manual pumps to modern rescue tenders, in Rochdale's own fire station
Fleetwood Museum
Fleetwood
A planned Victorian town, a fishing empire built on cod, and the devastating story of the Cod Wars
Formby Heritage Centre
Formby
Asparagus, shrimps, red squirrels — and footprints made five thousand years ago.
Furness Abbey Museum
Barrow-in-Furness
Second-richest abbey in medieval England — red sandstone ruins of extraordinary scale and beauty in the Vale of Deadly Nightshade
Garstang Museum of Archaeology
Liverpool
Ancient Egypt, Nubia, and the Near East — the fieldwork legacy of pioneer archaeologist John Garstang
Gawthorpe Textiles Collection
Burnley
Thirty Thousand Pieces of Needlework Genius in a Jacobean Masterpiece
Greater Manchester Police Museum & Archives
Manchester
A Victorian police station with its cells intact, open one day a week
Hardknott Roman Fort
Eskdale
Most dramatically sited Roman fort in Britain, high above Eskdale on the Hard Knott Pass
Hat Works Museum
Stockport
The UK's only museum dedicated to the art, craft, and industry of hat-making
Helena Thompson Museum
Workington
The story of Workington and the Allerdale coast, told through remarkable collections of costume, silver, ceramics, and local heritage
Helmshore Mills Textile Museum
Rossendale
Water-powered spinning and fulling — Lancashire's Industrial Revolution preserved in working order
Heron Corn Mill
Milnthorpe
A Grade II* watermill of 1740 on the River Bela, still working, and free to visit
Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre
Macclesfield
UNESCO World Heritage Site — where the universe speaks through the largest radio telescope in Britain
John Rylands Research Institute and Library
Manchester
Spectacular Victorian Gothic library housing medieval manuscripts and rare books
Judges' Lodgings Museum
Lancaster
Georgian elegance, Gillow furniture, and three centuries of Lancaster legal history
Keswick Museum and Art Gallery
Keswick
Musical stones, Romantic poets, and the curiosities of the Lake District — Cumbria's most fascinating local museum
King's Own Royal Regiment Museum
Lancaster
Three centuries of the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment
Knutsford Heritage Centre
Knutsford
Gaskell's Cranford, Watt's Italianate towers and May Day sanding, on King Street
Lady Lever Art Gallery
Liverpool
Edwardian masterpiece showcasing Pre-Raphaelite treasures in a model village
Lakeland Motor Museum
Newby Bridge
Around 30,000 transport exhibits and the Campbell Bluebird Exhibition, on the southern edge of the Lake District
Lancashire Infantry Museum
Preston
Three centuries of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment — courage, sacrifice and service
Lancashire Police Museum
Lancaster
The story of Lancashire's police, told from inside the cells of Lancaster Castle
Lancaster Castle
Lancaster
Nine Centuries of Royal Power, the Pendle Witch Trials, and England's Last Working Prison
Lanercost Priory
Brampton
Substantial monastic ruins beside a still-active parish church, visited by Edward I
Levens Hall
Levens
The world's oldest surviving topiary garden, maintained for 330 years beside an Elizabethan house
Lion Salt Works Museum
Northwich
Britain's only surviving open-pan salt works — 2,000 years of Cheshire's salty history
Little Moreton Hall
Congleton
England's most spectacular timber-framed manor house — five centuries of extraordinary black-and-white architecture
Lyme Park
Disley
A grand Cheshire estate immortalised as Pemberley — 1,400 acres of parkland, deer, and architectural splendour
Lymm Heritage Centre
Lymm
Sandstone, a lockless canal, fustian cutting and a cross carved from the rock.
Manchester Art Gallery
Manchester
Six centuries of art from Pre-Raphaelite masterpieces to contemporary innovation
Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections
Manchester
Five centuries of radical history and rare books in the heart of Manchester
Manchester Museum
Manchester
Ancient Egypt, dinosaurs, and natural wonders at Manchester's great university museum
Millom Discovery Centre
Millom
Iron ore, sea walls, and poetry — the remarkable story of Cumbria's mining town
Mirehouse
Keswick
A lived-in Lake District manor house on Bassenthwaite Lake with deep Victorian literary connections to Tennyson and his circle
Morecambe Heritage Centre
Morecambe
Piers, ballrooms, cockles and the Midland Hotel: a Lancashire resort remembers itself
Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry
Kendal
Discover the lives, trades and traditions of Lake District people
Museum of Medicine and Health
Manchester
300 years of Manchester medical history, from the university's Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
Museum of Policing in Cheshire
Warrington
The story of Cheshire Constabulary from Victorian beat officers to the modern force
Museum of the Manchester Regiment
Ashton-under-Lyne
Two centuries of service — the story of the Manchester Regiment from 1758 to 1958
Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester
Manchester
Manchester's public transport heritage brought to life
Museum of Wigan Life
Wigan
Discover the people, places, and stories that shaped Wigan from Roman times to the present day
Ness Botanic Gardens
Neston
64 acres of Wirral coastal gardens with Dee Estuary views, rooted in Arthur Kilpin Bulley's early 20th-century plant-hunting expeditions
Nether Alderley Mill
Macclesfield
Rare 15th-century watermill with tandem overshot wheels, restored to working order
North West Museum of Road Transport
St Helens
Municipal buses, fire engines and lorries, in the depot they came home to.
Northwest Computer Museum
Leigh
Home and business computing history, hands-on, in a former Leigh cotton mill
Norton Priory Museum and Gardens
Runcorn
Medieval priory, world-class archaeology, and beautiful gardens near Runcorn
Paradise Mill
Macclesfield
The last Jacquard silk mill — where Macclesfield's weaving heritage lives on
Pendle Heritage Centre
Nelson
The story of Pendle — from prehistoric times to the infamous Witch Trials and beyond
Pendragon Castle
Mallerstang
A remote Norman tower keep in a breathtaking Eden Valley landscape — associated with the legend of Uther Pendragon
Peover Hall
Over Peover
A privately owned Elizabethan and Georgian house near Knutsford, renowned for its outstanding Carolean-era stables
Peter Scott Gallery
Lancaster
Lancaster University's public gallery — contemporary and modern art on the Bailrigg campus
Piel Castle
Barrow-in-Furness
A medieval island fortress in Morecambe Bay — Furness Abbey's harbour castle, Lambert Simnel's landing, and the King of Piel
Port Sunlight Museum
Port sunlight
The story of a Victorian model village and the visionary who built it — William Hesketh Lever
Portland Basin Museum
Ashton-under-Lyne
Tameside's industrial heritage brought to life at a historic canal junction
Prescot Museum
Prescot
Watchmaking, wire and Knowsley — the craft heritage of an historic Lancashire town
Quaker Tapestry Exhibition Centre
Kendal
77 embroidered panels — 4,000 contributors — 300 years of Quaker witness
Queen Street Mill Textile Museum
Burnley
The last steam-powered weaving shed in the world — hear the looms that built Lancashire
Ravenglass Railway Museum
Ravenglass
La'al Ratty's history, beside the fifteen-inch gauge terminus on the Cumbrian coast
Ribble Steam Railway
Preston
Historic locomotives, heritage engineering, and operational steam on the banks of the Ribble
Ribchester Roman Museum
Ribchester
Home of the Ribchester Helmet — the finest Roman cavalry museum in northern England
RNCM Collection of Historic Musical Instruments
Manchester
Over 300 instruments, from a fifteenth-century virginal to a Tibetan bone trumpet, free in term time
Rochdale Pioneers Museum
Rochdale
Where the co-operative movement began — the original Toad Lane store of 1844
Rufford Old Hall
Rufford
One of England's finest medieval great halls with its extraordinary carved oak screen and Shakespeare connection
Ruskin Library
Lancaster
The world's largest collection of John Ruskin — drawings, manuscripts, diaries, and the archive of a visionary Victorian mind
Ruskin Museum
Coniston
John Ruskin, Donald Campbell's Bluebird, and the deep heritage of Coniston — Lake District's most surprising museum
Saddleworth Museum and Art Gallery
Saddleworth
Celebrating the unique history and character of the Pennine moorland village of Saddleworth
Salford Museum and Art Gallery
Salford
Victorian pioneering spirit — England's first public park and one of Britain's oldest free museums
Science and Industry Museum
Manchester
Celebrating Manchester's world-changing contributions to science and industry
Senhouse Roman Museum
Maryport
Britain's largest collection of Roman military altars — where Hadrian's Wall meets the Solway Sea
Shap Abbey
Shap
The last abbey founded in Westmorland — serene riverside ruins in the Cumbrian uplands
Silk Museum
Macclesfield
The complete story of silk — from silkworm to luxury fabric, in England's silk capital
Sizergh Castle
Sizergh
The Strickland family home for 760 years — one of the great houses of the Lake District
Smithills Hall
Bolton
One of England's finest medieval great halls — and the enduring legend of the Bloody Footprint of George Marsh
Smithy Heritage Centre
Eccleston
A Victorian blacksmith's forge and Eccleston village heritage in a Merseyside woodland
Solway Aviation Museum
Crosby-on-Eden
A volunteer-run Cold War aviation collection headlined by an Avro Vulcan, at Carlisle's own airport
South Ribble Museum
Leyland
The social history of South Ribble borough, from rural villages to Leyland's industrial heyday
Staircase House
Stockport
Seven centuries of Stockport life within a medieval townhouse — home to England's most extraordinary staircase
Stockport Air Raid Shelters
Stockport
Enter the largest WWII air raid tunnel complex in Britain — carved into the sandstone beneath Stockport's streets
Stockport Museum
Stockport
One of England's oldest municipal museums — Stockport's local history, natural world, and archaeological heritage in a Victorian parkland setting
Stott Park Bobbin Mill
Finsthwaite
A Victorian bobbin mill frozen in time — the Lake District's industrial secret
Strawberry Field Exhibition
Liverpool
The real Strawberry Fields — where John Lennon's childhood imagination became musical legend
Stretton Watermill
Stretton
A working seventeenth-century watermill on the River Dee — restored and turning by the National Trust
Tabley House Collection
Knutsford
Sir John Fleming Leicester's pioneering collection of British art, in a John Carr-designed Palladian mansion
Tameside Central Art Gallery
Ashton-under-Lyne
Art for Tameside — a free public gallery in the heart of Ashton-under-Lyne
The Armitt Museum
Ambleside
Beatrix Potter, Ruskin, Schwitters — The Lake District's Intellectual Heart
The Atkinson
Southport
Southport's cultural heart — art, museum, library, theatre, and literature under one roof
The Beacon
Whitehaven
Whitehaven's harbourside heritage centre — exploring coal, the sea, rum, and the town that helped shape the world
The Beatles Story
Liverpool
The world's largest Beatles museum experience on Liverpool's historic waterfront
The Fusilier Museum
Bury
Three centuries of the Lancashire Fusiliers, and the six VCs won before breakfast at Gallipoli
The Grundy Art Gallery
Blackpool
Blackpool's free gallery for art, culture, and curiosity since 1911
The Pankhurst Centre
Manchester
The house where the Women's Social and Political Union was founded in 1903
The Victoria Gallery and Museum
Liverpool
Art, science, and heritage in a Victorian architectural masterpiece
The Whitaker
Rossendale
Rossendale's museum and gallery — art, natural history and local heritage in the heart of Lancashire
The Whitworth
Manchester
Art gallery in the park with world-class collections and award-winning architecture
Touchstones Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale's arts, heritage and community — a vibrant cultural hub for Greater Manchester
Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museum
Burnley
Five Centuries of Art and History in Lancashire's Finest Manor
Townend
Windermere
A rare and intimate survival of a Lake District yeoman farmer's house, virtually unchanged since the 17th century
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery
Carlisle
Roman Frontier, Pre-Raphaelite Art, and the Natural Wonders of Cumbria
Turton Tower
Turton
A medieval pele tower grown into a Tudor manor, set in woodland above the Bradshaw Brook valley near Bolton
University of Salford Art Collection
Salford
University art collection with L.S. Lowry works and north-west art, open to the public
Walker Art Gallery
Liverpool
One of Europe's finest art galleries showcasing seven centuries of European painting and sculpture
Warrington Museum & Art Gallery
Warrington
One of the oldest municipal museums in Britain, housing an eclectic Victorian collection in the heart of Warrington
Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse
Northwich
Victorian workhouse and Cheshire salt town — two remarkable stories in one extraordinary building
West Lancashire Light Railway
Hesketh Bank
Two-foot gauge industrial locomotives, working on the site of a clay pit tramway.
West Park Museum and Art Gallery
Macclesfield
A century of curiosity in the heart of Macclesfield's park
Whalley Abbey Gatehouse
Whalley
A rare surviving gatehouse from one of Lancashire's greatest Cistercian abbeys
Williamson Art Gallery and Museum
Birkenhead
World-class Liverpool porcelain, outstanding Victorian paintings, and Merseyside maritime heritage — free admission
Wordsworth Grasmere (Dove Cottage)
Grasmere
Wordsworth's home, his words, his world — in the heart of the Lake District
Wordsworth House and Garden
Cockermouth
Birthplace of William and Dorothy Wordsworth — where the poetry began
Working Class Movement Library
Salford
Two hundred years of trade union, Chartist and radical history, collected by Ruth and Eddie Frow
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