List of museums in Cheshire facts for kids

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

To use the sortable table, click on the icons at the top of each column to sort that column in alphabetical order; click again for reverse alphabetical order.

Name	Location	Type	Summary
Adlington Hall	Adlington	Historic house	Country house dating in part from the 15th century, with gardens
Anderton Boat Lift	Anderton	Transportation	Boat lift and visitor centre for the meeting of the River Weaver and Trent and Mersey Canal
Anson Engine Museum	Poynton	Technology	Collection of stationary engines, blacksmith's smithy and carpentry shop; housed on the site of a former colliery
Arley Hall	Arley	Historic house	Early Victorian Jacobethan mansion (1833–41) and chapel, with formal gardens and farm
Bollington Discovery Centre	Bollington	Industry	Local cotton industry, located in Clarence Mill; also canals, local history and art
Beeston Castle	Beeston	Castle	Ruined 12th Century castle with museum
Bunbury Mill	Bunbury	Mill	Restored mid-19th-century water-powered mill; also wildlife pool
Capesthorne Hall	Siddington	Historic house	Jacobean-style house, Georgian Chapel, gardens, parkland
Catalyst Science Discovery Centre	Widnes	Science	Chemistry, history of the chemical industry
Cheshire Military Museum	Chester	Military	History of Cheshire's regiments, located in the former barracks at Chester Castle
Congleton Museum	Congleton	Local	Local history
Crewe Heritage Centre	Crewe	Railway and Local	Trains, locomotives, signal boxes, miniature railways; located on the site of the Crewe Locomotive Works
Cuckooland Museum	Tabley	Horology	Cuckoo clocks
Dewa Roman Experience	Chester	History	Roman British artifacts, reconstructed Roman legionary fortress buildings
Dorfold Hall	Acton	Historic house	Jacobean house, gardens, woodland
Dunham Massey Hall	Dunham Massey	Historic House	Grade I listed historic house with extensive gardens and grounds
Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum	Englesea-Brook	Religious	History of the 19th century working-class religious movement of Primitive Methodism
Gawsworth Old Hall	Gawsworth	Historic house	Black-and-white timber-framed manor house
Grosvenor Museum	Chester	Multiple	Roman heritage, art, musical instruments, natural history, Victorian parlour, local history
Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker	Hack Green	Military	Former government-owned nuclear bunker with Cold War and military exhibits
Hadlow Road railway station	Willaston	Railway museum	Recreation of the station office on the day the station closed, located on the Wirral Way
Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre	Lower Withington	Science	Lovell radio telescope, planet and space exhibitions, orrery, solar system model, aboretum
Lion Salt Works	Marston	Industry	Working open-pan salt works and museum, with rebuilt stove house, salt pan, smithy, engine house and brine tank
Little Moreton Hall	Congleton	Historic house	Moated 15th-century half-timbered manor house; operated by the National Trust
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
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
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
National Waterways Museum	Ellesmere Port	Transport	Canal boats, history of the canals
Nether Alderley Mill	Nether Alderley	Mill	Victorian water-powered corn mill; operated by the National Trust
Norton Priory Museum	Runcorn	Religious	12–16th-century abbey and 18th-century country house with ruins, archaeological artifacts and medieval history
Peover Hall	Peover Superior	Historic house	Grade II* listed Elizabethan brick house dating from 1585 and 18th-century landscaped park
Quarry Bank Mill	Styal	Industry	Former cotton mill and textile museum; operated by the National Trust
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
Rode Hall and Gardens	Congleton	Historic house	Grade II* listed Georgian country house and gardens
Stretton Watermill	Stretton	Mill	Working water mill, first recorded in 1351
Tabley House	Knutsford	Historic house	18th-century Grade I listed house with fine art and furniture collection
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
The Museum of Policing in Cheshire	Warrington	Law enforcement	Includes murder weapons, forgeries, pigeon carriers, uniforms, a Doctor Who police box, photographs and records
Warrington Museum & Art Gallery	Warrington	Multiple	Natural history, local history, archaeology, fine art, decorative arts
Weaver Hall Museum	Northwich	Multiple	History of salt making, local history, archaeology

Defunct museums and galleries

Axis Arts Centre, Crewe (formerly Alsager Arts Centre), included an art gallery, closed in spring 2019
Chester Toy and Doll Museum, Chester
Mouldsworth Motor Museum, Mouldsworth, website, closed in 2013
On The Air: Broadcasting Museum, Chester, closed in 2000