Gordon Russell was a design pioneer – a furniture designer, maker, calligrapher, entrepreneur, educator, and champion of accessible, well crafted design. Schooled in the Arts and Crafts tradition of the Cotswolds he believed that good design has a lasting impact on people’s lives.
Museums
Museums
What are they and what do they involve?
Museums are venues with the primary purpose of exhibiting items of interest, often of a historical nature. The exact focus of a museum will vary, but they always offer educational insights into their artefacts and can include extra activities such as workshops and guided tours! Nationally-recognised museums dominate the school trip agenda and often feature amongst the most visited venues in Britain.
Incredibly there are museums for pretty much everything you can think of in the UK - from Prams to Anaesthetic, Radar to Pencils, Locks to Lawnmowers, Mustard to Surfing, Straw to Dog Collars (the canine kind), Teapots to Gas, or Magic to Embroidery. Search our list of venues for topics these fantastic, quirky places feature and you'll be surprised what pops up! It might inspire a new approach to a curriculum topic or a different slant on your locality.
What are the benefits?
A museum can be a highly educational place, especially for those with prior interest in the subjects on display. Taking a student group that have been covering a specific historical event or time period to a relevant museum will enable them to really connect with the subject and create an extra dimension to their education.
What students is it suitable for?
Provided the content of the museum is suitable for the age group, all students can benefit from a trip to a museum!
Costs?
Some museums are free for the public to access but there are some venues that have admission costs due to the specific nature of the exhibit – make sure to thoroughly check out the prices of museums in your area.
Safety Implications?
Museums can be quite large and confusing venues, so make sure your group of students is properly supervised to ensure nobody gets separated from the group!
Accreditations?
There is a national accreditation scheme in operation for museums - find out more HERE about Accredited Museums.
Venues for this Category
The Museum was founded in 1981. Funded by Greater Manchester Police, it not only collects and preserves archive material and objects relating to the history of policing in the Greater Manchester area, but acts as an important resource for community engagement, where visitors can talk to staff and volunteers about policing.
Two hundred years of energy
The National Gas Museum displays historic objects collected by Britain’s nationalised gas industry, mostly in the 1960s and 1970s. We have around 4,000 objects drawn from several former regions of British Gas and donated by individuals.
There have always been ideas worth fighting for. Join a march through time following Britain's struggle for democracy over two centuries
The main story of the museum is told in two purpose built galleries located on the first and second floor. The galleries have been divided into seven themes and roughly follow a chronological order over the last 200 years. The story starts with the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 and ends in the present day.
Relive the legend of Robin Hood, Nottingham's legendary favourite son
Welcome to Nottingham Castle - a magnificent 17th century ducal mansion built on the site of the original Medieval Castle - now the city's main museum and art gallery.
Bassetlaw Museum was created in 1983. Over the following years its collections have quickly grown due to generous donations by local people. The collections include local history, archaeology, decorative and fine art, agriculture, costume and textiles.
The Fashion and Textile Museum is a cutting edge centre for contemporary fashion, textiles and jewellery in London. Founded by iconic British designer Zandra Rhodes, the centre showcases a programme of changing exhibitions exploring elements of fashion, textile and jewellery as well as the Academy which runs courses for creative students and businesses.
The American Visionary Arts Museum celebrates artwork created by self-taught individuals in its spacious gallery with over 4,000 pieces in the permanent collection. The adjacent Jim Rouse Visionary Center houses the museum’s oversized sculptures, art cars and screen paintings, a Baltimore specialty.
AVAM's Seven Education Goals
Numerous prints and photographs, artefacts from famous freemasons such as Winston Churchill, and displays detailing freemason hierarchy and everyday practices are guaranteed to keep you interested. The atmosphere of mystery around the assembly greatly adds to the excitement of the visit. Make sure you book in advance for the full experience!
The museum reconstructs the conditions in educational establishments that taught impoverished children in 1800s Britain. On display, there are numerous unique items, such as desks, ink bottles, and slate boards, as well as objects relating to contemporary leisure and work life. The museum’s crowning glory is its Victorian classroom!
The Magic Circle headquarters hosts a remarkable museum and library dedicated to preserving the craft of magic.
Fans, their history and how they are made
The Fan Museum holds a world-renowned collection of fans and fan leaves which include the splendid Hélène Alexander Collection and further acquisitions, gifts and bequests which have been received since the museum opened to the public over twenty years ago.
If you’ve always dreamed of travelling in time, this museum is ideal for you
The Geffrye collects objects, images and texts in order to explore the history of English homes from 1600 to the present day.
The Museum of Teapots
We have over 6,700 teapots on display in our exhibition that is open to the public for a small charge and you can purchase a memento from our shop to take home with you to remind you of your day with us.
Eureka! is a unique place for families and groups to visit, where children aged 0 to 11 are inspired to learn all about themselves and the world around them by playing, imagining, experimenting and – above all – having fun, with the caring grown-ups in their lives.
A small local museum in a town once described as a full-flavoured fisher town. Buckhaven’s past importance in the East Coast Fisheries is reflected in the displays housed above Buckhaven Library. Free admission, open as Library.
St Andrews, the home of golf, is also home to the British Golf Museum.
The museum has over 16,000 exhibits telling the story of golf from its origins in the Middle Ages to the present day.
Learning at the British Golf Museum
Yell is the stepping stone island to Unst and Fetlar and is also home of the Old Haa Museum. Here, the history of the island, including the whaling years and shipwrecks are summarised along with natural history, genealogy and a picture and sound archive.
A dynamic community-run museum on one of Shetland’s remoter islands. Displays on crofting and the sea are complemented by early film and storytelling recordings, and interactive multimedia displays bring to life the island’s natural and cultural history.
George Waterson, the former Scottish Director of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, co-founded the Bird Observatory in 1948. Dr Waterson’s Memorial is a fascinating museum in the former Fair Isle School, which studies local social history and particularly the famous knitting traditions and patterns, plus natural history and archaeology.
Visit Unst Heritage Centre in Haroldswick and discover the unique story of Unst, the northernmost island in the UK.
Bearing in mind Unst’s special position as the northernmost outpost of the UK, the centre has a display about the lighthouse at Muckle Flugga, and a range of interpretive displays about geology, crofting, fine lace knitwear, the Shelties, etc.
Different aspects of life in Northmavine through the years are illustrated by using a mixture of artefacts and photographs. Part of the display has a new theme every year.
A community museum addressing many aspects of local history, including crofiting, fishing, Viking occupation, blackhouses, trades and crafts, archaeology and finds, and the Lewis Chessmen, with extensive genealogical information.
The Kildonan Centre in South Uist is a heritage and cultural amenity which includes a museum, a
Situated literally on the on the seas edge in the village of Lochmaddy, on the Isle of North Uist, Taigh Chearsabhagh welcomes countless visitors each year to experience the arts, culture and heritage of the Uists. The centre is focus for life in North Uist and dedicates itself to a constantly changing programme of heritage and art exhibitions.
Pages
Featured Provider
The Bushcraft Company offer residential school trips with a difference, taking students into the wild and giving them real back-to-nature experiences they will never forget.
Login/Sign Up
Latest News
British schoolgirl assaulted on school trip to Iceland
A viral video shows a black girl being assaulted by a white woman in a corridor.
Police in Iceland are investigating after a British schoolgirl was slapped and chased by a tour guide in a hotel corridor.
The schoolgirl, 13, who attended Harris Girls’ Academy, was assaulted whilst on a school trip to Iceland to see the Northern Lights. The incident occurred at Hotel Örk, Hveragerdi on 13th October.