List of museums in Cheshire
In this list of museums in Cheshire, England, museums are defined as institutions (including non-profit organisations, government entities and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific or historical interest, and that make their collections or related exhibits available for public viewing. Also included are non-profit art galleries and university art galleries. Museums that exist only in cyberspace (virtual museums) are not included.
Many Cheshire museums focus on the area's industrial heritage, including Quarry Bank Mill in Styal and Clarence Mill in Bollington (cotton), the Macclesfield Museums (silk), the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre in Widnes (chemicals), and the Lion Salt Works in Marston and Weaver Hall Museum in Northwich (salt). The Anson Engine Museum in Poynton is on the site of a former colliery. Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, on the site of the observatory in Lower Withington, explores astronomy. There are also several transport museums, including the Crewe Heritage Centre (railways), the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port and the Anderton Boat Lift (canals). There are water-powered mills at Bunbury, Nether Alderley and Stretton.
The cities of Chester and Warrington each have a combined museum and art gallery, and the towns of Congleton and Nantwich have local museums. Norton Priory is the remains of an Augustinian abbey, and Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum documents the Primitive Methodist movement. Historic house museums are also represented in the county, including Little Moreton Hall and Lyme Park. Cheshire Military Museum in Chester Castle covers the county's regimental history, and RAF Burtonwood Heritage Centre and Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker explore more recent military history. The Museum of Policing in Warrington documents Cheshire's police forces. Unusual specialist museums include Cuckooland Museum, which exhibits cuckoo clocks.
Museums and galleries[]
Name | Image | Location | Type | Summary | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adlington Hall | ![]() |
Adlington | Historic house | Country house dating in part from the 15th century, with gardens | [1][2] |
Anderton Boat Lift | ![]() |
Anderton | Transportation | Boat lift and visitor centre for the meeting of the River Weaver and Trent and Mersey Canal | [3] |
Anson Engine Museum | Poynton | Technology | Collection of stationary engines, blacksmith's smithy and carpentry shop; housed on the site of a former colliery | [4] | |
Arley Hall | ![]() |
Arley | Historic house | Early Victorian Jacobethan mansion (1833–41) and chapel, with formal gardens and farm | [5] |
Bollington Discovery Centre | ![]() |
Bollington | Industry | Local cotton industry, located in Clarence Mill; also canals, local history and art | [6][7] |
Beeston Castle | ![]() |
Beeston | Castle | Ruined 12th Century castle with museum | [8] |
Bunbury Mill | ![]() |
Bunbury | Mill | Restored mid-19th-century water-powered mill; also wildlife pool | [9] |
Capesthorne Hall | ![]() |
Siddington | Historic house | Jacobean-style house, Georgian Chapel, gardens, parkland | [10] |
Catalyst Science Discovery Centre | ![]() |
Widnes | Science | Chemistry, history of the chemical industry | [11] |
Cheshire Military Museum | Chester | Military | History of Cheshire's regiments, located in the former barracks at Chester Castle | [12] | |
Congleton Museum | Congleton | Local | Local history | [13] | |
Crewe Heritage Centre | ![]() |
Crewe | Railway and Local | Trains, locomotives, signal boxes, miniature railways; located on the site of the Crewe Locomotive Works | [14] |
Cuckooland Museum | ![]() |
Tabley | Horology | Cuckoo clocks | [15] |
![]() |
Chester | History | Roman British artifacts, reconstructed Roman legionary fortress buildings | [16] | |
Dorfold Hall | ![]() |
Acton | Historic house | Jacobean house, gardens, woodland | [17] |
Dunham Massey Hall | ![]() |
Dunham Massey | Historic House | Grade I listed historic house with extensive gardens and grounds | [18] |
Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum | ![]() |
Englesea-Brook | Religious | History of the 19th century working-class religious movement of Primitive Methodism | [19] |
Gawsworth Old Hall | ![]() |
Gawsworth | Historic house | Black-and-white timber-framed manor house | [20] |
Grosvenor Museum | ![]() |
Chester | Multiple | Roman heritage, art, musical instruments, natural history, Victorian parlour, local history | [21] |
Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker | ![]() |
Hack Green | Military | Former government-owned nuclear bunker with Cold War and military exhibits | [22] |
Hadlow Road railway station | ![]() |
Willaston | Railway museum | Recreation of the station office on the day the station closed, located on the Wirral Way | [23] |
Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre | ![]() |
Lower Withington | Science | Lovell radio telescope, planet and space exhibitions, orrery, solar system model, aboretum | [24][25] |
Lion Salt Works | ![]() |
Marston | Industry | Working open-pan salt works and museum, with rebuilt stove house, salt pan, smithy, engine house and brine tank | [26] |
Little Moreton Hall | ![]() |
Congleton | Historic house | Moated 15th-century half-timbered manor house; operated by the National Trust | [27] |
Lyme Park | ![]() |
Disley | Historic house | Mansion house with furnished rooms including tapestries and the Lyme Caxton Missal; formal gardens and deer park; operated by the National Trust | [28] |
Macclesfield Museums | Macclesfield | Industry | Four museums about the local silk industry, including the Silk Museum on Park Lane, Paradise Mill, Heritage Centre, and the West Park Museum | [29] | |
Nantwich Museum | ![]() |
Nantwich | Local | Local history including Cheshire's role in the Civil War, local salt, cheese, clothing, shoe and clock-making industries, and art | [30] |
National Waterways Museum | ![]() |
Ellesmere Port | Transport | Canal boats, history of the canals | [3] |
Nether Alderley Mill | ![]() |
Nether Alderley | Mill | Victorian water-powered corn mill; operated by the National Trust | [31] |
Norton Priory Museum | ![]() |
Runcorn | Religious | 12–16th-century abbey and 18th-century country house with ruins, archaeological artifacts and medieval history | [32] |
Peover Hall | ![]() |
Peover Superior | Historic house | Grade II* listed Elizabethan brick house dating from 1585 and 18th-century landscaped park | [33] |
Quarry Bank Mill | ![]() |
Styal | Industry | Former cotton mill and textile museum; operated by the National Trust | [34] |
RAF Burtonwood Heritage Centre | ![]() |
Burtonwood | Military | Site of former US air base, with exhibits on life at the base as well as aeroplanes and engines | [35] |
Rode Hall and Gardens | ![]() |
Congleton | Historic house | Grade II* listed Georgian country house and gardens | [36] |
Stretton Watermill | ![]() |
Stretton | Mill | Working water mill, first recorded in 1351 | [37] |
Tabley House | ![]() |
Knutsford | Historic house | 18th-century Grade I listed house with fine art and furniture collection | [38] |
Tatton Hall | ![]() |
Knutsford | Historic house | Part of Tatton Park, early 19th-century house with collections of pictures, books, china, glass, silver and Gillows furniture; operated by the National Trust | [39] |
The Museum of Policing in Cheshire | Warrington | Law enforcement | Includes murder weapons, forgeries, pigeon carriers, uniforms, a Doctor Who police box, photographs and records | [40] | |
Warrington Museum & Art Gallery | ![]() |
Warrington | Multiple | Natural history, local history, archaeology, fine art, decorative arts | [41] |
Weaver Hall Museum | ![]() |
Northwich | Multiple | History of salt making, local history, archaeology | [42] |
Defunct museums and galleries[]
- Axis Arts Centre, Crewe (formerly Alsager Arts Centre), included an art gallery, closed in spring 2019[43]
- Chester Toy and Doll Museum, Chester
- Mouldsworth Motor Museum, Mouldsworth, website, closed in 2013[44]
- On The Air: Broadcasting Museum, Chester, closed in 2000[45]
References[]
- ^ Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 87–89, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
- ^ Historic England. "Adlington Hall (1000636)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
- ^ a b "The Canal & River Trust". canalrivertrust.org.uk.
- ^ "Anson Engine Museum". www.enginemuseum.org.
- ^ Arley Hall and Gardens, VIP Internet, archived from the original on 21 November 2004, retrieved 3 February 2011
- ^ "Discovery Centre". Happy Valley Bollington.
- ^ "The Discovery Centre". Bollington Town Council. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ^ "Beeston Castle and Woodland Park". English Heritage.
- ^ Home, Bunbury Watermill Trust, retrieved 14 July 2012
- ^ Capesthorne Hall, Historic Houses Association, retrieved 24 June 2014
- ^ "Catalyst Science Discovery Centre - A unique interactive museum for all ages". Catalyst Science Discovery Centre.
- ^ Cheshire Military Museum, Culture24, retrieved 18 February 2011
- ^ Congleton Museum website
- ^ "Crewe Heritage Centre". Crewe Heritage Trust. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ^ "Welcome to Cuckooland". Cuckooland Museum. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ^ "Dewa Roman Experience Chester - Museum & tourist attraction". www.dewaromanexperience.co.uk.
- ^ "Dorfold Hall". Historic Houses. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ^ "Dunham Massey". National Trust.
- ^ "Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum". 30 April 2010. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010.
- ^ Welcome to Gawsworth Hall, a lived in historic house, Gawsworth Hall, archived from the original on 11 July 2011, retrieved 22 February 2011
- ^ "Grosvenor Museum". Grosvenor Museum. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ^ "Visit Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker". Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ^ "HADLOW ROAD RAILWAY STATION, non Civil Parish - 1387664 | Historic England".
- ^ "Jodrell Bank unveils £3m discovery centre". BBC. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- ^ "What's here?". Jodrell Bank Observatory/University of Manchester. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- ^ "The Lion Salt Works, Northwich". Civic Trust Awards. 5 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- ^ "Little Moreton Hall". National Trust. Archived from the original on 26 April 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
- ^ "Lyme Park". National Trust. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
- ^ "Macclesfield Museums".
- ^ "About Nantwich Museum". Nantwich Museum. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ^ "Nether Alderley Mill". National Trust.
- ^ "Norton Priory Museum and Gardens". nortonpriory.org.
- ^ England, Historic. "PEOVER HALL, Peover Superior - 1329813 - Historic England". historicengland.org.uk.
- ^ "Quarry Bank". National Trust.
- ^ "RAF Burtonwood Heritage Centre".
- ^ "Rode Hall and Gardens". www.rodehall.co.uk.
- ^ "Home". Stretton Watermill.
- ^ "Tabley House – Historic House".
- ^ "Tatton Park". National Trust.
- ^ "The Museum of Policing in Cheshire". museumofpolicingincheshire.org.uk.
- ^ "Welcome to Warrington Museum & Art Gallery". Warrington Museum and Art Gallery.
- ^ "Home". Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse.
- ^ Neil Mackenzie (Spring 2019). "Spring Season 2019 – Welcome and goodbye!". Axis Arts Centre. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- ^ BBC News: Motoring museum is set to close (accessed 16 January 2013)
- ^ "What was The Broadcasting Museum?". On the Air. 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Museums in Cheshire. |
- Museums in Cheshire
- Lists of museums in England by county
- Lists of buildings and structures in Cheshire
- Tourist attractions in Cheshire