Liverpool – The Museum Capital of the North
If you want to learn something new, one of the best things that you can do is to head to a museum. For most people, that will involve either driving down to London or getting a train to the capital in order to soak up the educational venues available in the city.
What a lot of people might not realise, however, is the fact that Liverpool has more museums than any other city in the United Kingdom other than the nation’s capital.
In other words, if you’re looking for some education that is about more than just The Beatles then you’re in luck, thanks to the sheer volume of museums on offer on the banks of the River Mersey.
The Museums
Knowing that Liverpool has a huge number of museums on offer is one thing, but getting a bit of information about those museums can be key to being able to make a decision regarding which one you should go to. As you might imagine, some of them are more likely to be classes as ‘educational’ than others, but when it comes down to it you won’t be disappointed if you head to any of them.
Here’s a look at the museums in question:
Museum of Liverpool
Based on the Pier Head close to the Liver Building, the Museum of Liverpool opened in the July of 2011. It is where you’ll want to head if you’re keen to learn about the likes of the city itself, its people and the manner in which music and sport has helped to shape it. The collections on offer look at more than 10,000 years of the history of Merseyside, exploring everything from the social and community history through to the way transport worked in the city. Funded by organisation such as the Northwest Regional Development Agency and the Heritage Lottery Fund, it is the people of the city that keep it interesting thanks to donations; both financial and of artefacts.
Happy Birthday to the wonderful city that we love to call home!🥳🎂
On this day in 1207 King John signed a Royal Charter, creating the borough of Liverpool.
We may be a tad biased, but we think Liverpool is looking mighty fine for an 817 year old! pic.twitter.com/kU7IfILejj
— Museum of Liverpool (@MuseumLiverpool) August 28, 2024
The World Museum
Whilst the Museum of Liverpool understandably takes pride of place for the people of Liverpool, the city has always been an outward-looking one. With that in mind, it is only right that the World Museum is next on our list, having been established in 1851. The extensive collections available to explore in the museum look at the likes of archeology, ethnology and the physical sciences, to say nothing of the presence of the National History Centre and the planetarium. It is free to enter, as with many of the museums in the city, and is one of the more ‘classical’ museums in the city in terms of the exhibitions on offer.
Maritime Museum
Part of the reason behind Liverpool’s out-looking nature is the fact that the city was one of the most important ports in the world, so it is only right that there is a museum on offer that points towards the history of Liverpool’s maritime trade. Exhibitions began to be put together in 1862, but the collection developed slowly and steadily over the years that followed. It opened properly on a trial basis in 1980, then opened fully four years later before being expanded in 1986. Part of the focus on the museum is the Titanic, as well as the Lusitania, the former of which was owned by the White Star Line, based in the city.
International Slavery Museum
One of the more shameful aspects of Liverpool’s past is also something that the people of the city cannot shy away from, which was the role of Liverpool in the slave trade. It is part of the Maritime Museum, but is also very much deserving of a mention in its own right. Although there had been exhibitions discussing slavery and the city’s role in it, the new museum opened in 2007 and has been expanded upon since then. Whilst it isn’t something that is easy to discuss or to look upon, there is a strong argument that this is the most important museum in the whole of the city and that everyone should visit at least once.
Border Force National Museum
Also located within the Maritime Museum is the Border Force National Museum, housing the national collection of His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. It is considered to be one of the most important collections of its type anywhere in the world, telling the story of smuggling and the import of contraband from the 18th century all the way through to the modern day. Established in 1994, it was designed to educate the public about smuggling as a concept; although more to warn people against it than to teach you how it’s done.
The Piermaster’s House
This isn’t exactly going to be a venue that will take up much time on your visit to Liverpool, but it is fascinating in its own right. The 19th-century building is Grade II listed and can be found in the Albert Dock area of the city. It was built in 1852 and was where the piermaster and his family lived. Nowadays there is a 1940s wartime interior in place to give you a sense of what it must have been like during that period.
@doubledcocktails A house in the war time #war #warhistory #warhouse #veralynn #liverpool #merseyside #albertdock #albertdockliverpool #piermastershouse ♬ We’ll Meet Again – Vera Lynn
Walker Art Gallery
Not only is Liverpool a city with more museums than anywhere outside of London, the Walker Art Gallery houses one of the largest collections of art outside of the capital. Should an art gallery be counted in a list of museums? Maybe not, but given the fact that the collection on offer here dates back to as early as 1819, you’d be hard-pushed to tell people that it isn’t historically relevant. That was the year that the Liverpool Royal Institutions obtained 37 paintings from William Roscoe, with the paintings and other forms of art on offer growing considerably in the years that followed. If you’re an art buff, this place is worth a visit.
Lady Lever Art Gallery
If you like the sound of the Walker Art Gallery then you should also consider paying a visit to the Lady Lever Art Gallery. If you’re not sure that an art gallery should be included on a list of museums then you’re likely to be even less impressed that something based on the Wirral is included in a list of venues in Liverpool, but as it’s part of the National Museums Liverpool, we decided to go with it. Thought of as one of the most significant examples of the taste of art lovers in Victorian and Edwardian England, it houses a collection that was made up personally by Lord Leverhulme himself.
On the difficulty of representing frontal views of horses, please compare the infamous medieval ‘egg horse’ with this earlier attempt in a 6th century BCE amphora from Athens I saw a few days ago at the Lady Lever Art Gallery. 🏺🐴 https://t.co/CwGHpac5f9 pic.twitter.com/cSVTLPQcVV
— Dr Marina Escolano-Poveda 🌊🪔 (@HypatiaHeuresis) August 28, 2024
Sudley House
For those that would like to a get a sense of what the outskirts of Liverpool are like, a trip to Sudley House may be on the cards. Based in Aigburth and built in 1824, what was once simply a family home has been converted into a museum and art gallery thanks to the collection work of George Holt. The onetime shipping-line owner put the collection of works by the likes of Thomas Gainsborough an J. M. W. Turner together himself. The house and its contents was bequeathed to the city of Liverpool by Emma Georgina Holt in 1944, with National Museums Liverpool responsible for its management.
Port Sunlight Museum
William Lever built Port Sunlight as a village for the workers at his Sunlight Soap factory, with the museum offering you the chance to explore how he developed the village over the years and what the working and living conditions were like for the residents. There is a recreated grocer’s shop from the 1900s that you can look around, seeing some of the soap packaging created by the Liver Brothers, as well as a large model village for you to explore. There is also reference to The Beatles, who spent some time in Port Sunlight before they became the biggest band on the planet.
The Beatle Story Museum
No list of museums in Liverpool would be complete without mentioning The Beatles Story, which is a museum all about the Fab Four. Located in the Albert Dock area, it is actually owned by Mersey Ferries. It is the place to go for all lovers of The Beatles, thanks to the likes of the recreation of the famous Cavern Club as well as The Casbah Coffee Club and Abbey Road Studios. There is a wealth of Beatles-related items on offer, from John Lennon’s glasses through to George Harrison’s first guitar. Recognised as one of the best tourist attractions in 2015, this is the place to go if you fancy a Hard Day’s Night.
@curlyscooking When you’re in Liverpool you have to do something to do with the Beatles! We went to the Beatles Story at the docks #liverpool #thebeatles #citybreak #paulmccartney #johnlennon #georgeharrison #ringostarr ♬ original sound – CurlysCooking
Liverpool Beatles Museum
Given the extent to which The Beatles helped to put Liverpool as a city on the map, not to mention completely changed music, it is perhaps not all that surprising that there is more than one museum about the band on offer in the area. The Beatles Museum is where you’ll want to head if you’d like to be able to see some rare items, given the fact that it is set across three floors and has more than 1,000 items never seen anywhere else. It is an entirely different experience to The Beatles Story, so you don’t need to be worried about repeating yourself if you’d like to go to both locations and consider yourself a BeatleManiac.
Victoria Gallery & Museum
Housed inside a renovated gothic building, the Victoria Gallery & Museum is where you’ll want to head to if you want to see the University of Liverpool’s collection of fine art, silver, furniture, sculpture, ceramics, fossils, scientific equipment and even zoological specimens that have been collected by the university over the years. It spans from the 16th century right the way through to the modern day, with highlights including x-rays from the very start of the development of x-ray technology. There are even dinosaur footprints that were discovered in the North-West of England.
Garstang Museum of Archaeology
It is important to note that this list is far from exhaustive and that there may be other museums on offer around the city, but that we’re looking to give you a good sense of the kinds of experience that you can have when you visit the city of Liverpool. The final experience worth mentioning is that of the Garstang Museum of Archaeology, which is open to the public on Wednesday and Thursday and promises a journey through the ancient world. It is operated by the University of Liverpool and was founded in 1904, with collections including artefacts from Egypt and Sudan amongst other far-flung places.
