Museums and Galleries
There's a huge choice of museums and galleries to visit in the city, county and universities.
City
Round Church Visitor Centre
The second-oldest building in Cambridge, The Round Church was built around 1130 and is one of only four round churches in the country.
The Museum of Cambridge
Formerly the Cambridge and County Folk Museum, The Museum of Cambridge’s nine display rooms capture the life of Cambridge’s citizens through the ages displaying furnishings, implements and objects that date back to the reign of the Stuarts.
Cambridge Museum of Technology
Alongside the river Cam stands Cambridge’s original pumping station, now home to the Cambridge Museum of Technology which celebrates the industrial and technological heritage of Cambridge.
Cambridge Science Centre
The Cambridge Science Centre is an interactive museum of science and technology, offering visitors a vast array of hands-on exhibits that are aimed to promote interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
Centre for Computing History
With over 800 computers in their archives, and many consoles and arcade machines to play, older gamers can play the games of their youth, like Sonic, Pacman and Pong, among many others.
New Hall Art Collection
Curated to feature female artists exclusively, The New Hall Art Collection has been expanding its unique collection since 1986 and is now thought to be the largest of its kind in Europe.
County
Cromwell Museum, Huntingdon
Housed in Cromwell’s old grammar school, the museum displays best collection of ‘Cromwelliana’ in the UK.
Octavia Hill’s Birthplace Museum
The museum stands now in the house that Octavia Hill was born in in 1838, a beautiful Grade II listed building built in 1740 that stands on Wisbech’s South Brink.
Stained Glass Museum
Displaying over 125 stained glass panels that chronicle the 800 year history of this art in Britain.
Babylon Arts gallery, Ely
A small but varied and changing collection of art set in a gallery by the river.
Nene Valley Railway
Regular steam train service between stations in Yarwell, Wansford, Ferry Meadows, Orton Mere and Peterborough.
Imperial War Museum Duxford
With hangars full of iconic aircraft, from tiger moths to concorde and spitfires to boeings. and various other vehicles including tanks, there’s plenty for the kids to see (both big and small).
Saffron Walden Museum
One of the oldest purpose-built museums in the country, situated beside the ruins of a 12th century castle. The museum is a combined collection of local exhibits and artifacts from around the world.
Chatteris Museum
This community museum first started as a collection in 1942, housed in the district council office. It covers the local history, from the earliest prehistoric settlement.
Ely Museum
Located in the old Gaol house in the centre of historical Ely, the museum displays a themed history of the town and The Fens.
Denny Abbey Farmland Museum
A place to take the kids, the museum is next to Denny Abbey, run by English Heritage, and displays a sizeable collection of farming equipment, focusing on rural life in Cambridgeshire.
March District Museum
The museum shows a history of March and the surrounding area set out in its three exhibition rooms and Fenland Cottage.
Prickwillow Museum
An educational museum that displays the innovative engines that drained the Fens, and show why this is such an important task.
Ramsey Rural Museum
Spanning 200 years of local life, the museum displays a donated collection in renovated 17th century farm buildings.
St Neots Museum
Housed in the town’s Victorian police station, the museum shows the story of the busy market town from prehistoric times to the present day.
Whittlesey Museum
Local history displayed in the Town Hall, including a 1940’s doctor’s surgery.
Wisbech and Fenland Museum
Opened in 1847, the museum houses collections from 1781 and 1835, remaining virtually unchanged since they were first displayed.
Royston Museum
A community museum that displays a collection that has been in the making since the 70s.
Burwell Museum & Windmill
Visitors can climb the mill’s four stories (up ladders) to discover how it works from sails to grindstone. But there’s so much more; classic motors, agricultural equipment and everyday objects that build a picture of life on The Fens.
University Museums
Cambridge University Library
The Cambridge University Library has a history reaching back 600 years, from its humble beginnings as a collection of books stored in the University treasury, growing to the millions of volumes it contains today.
Fitzwilliam Museum
One of the world’s most diverse museums for its size, you might need to go back to explore the whole building. But that’s okay; entry is free.
Girton College - Lawrence Room and People’s Portraits Exhibition
Although the furthest of Cambridge’s Colleges from the city centre, Girton is worth the visit and is the favorite Cambridge University college of many visitors.
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
The oldest object on display is the 1.8 million-year-old stone tool from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, meaning some exhibits in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology span far beyond the history of modern humans.
Museum of Classical Archaeology
The museum displays over 450 plaster casts of Greek and Roman sculptures, dating back to 1700 BC and spanning two thousand years.
The Polar Museum
A small but very comprehensive collection of early polar explorations, including those of Shackleton and Scott.
Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences
Another of Cambridge’s free university museums, there are fossils and dinosaur skeletons galore, all arranged by geological time period making it easy to trace the evolution of the earth through the ages.
Whipple Museum of the History of Science
Set out over multiple levels, the Whipple Museum is filled with an array of scientific instruments, teaching models, microscopes and other such implements that in their time were at the cutting edge of scientific discovery - such as a prism that Isaac Newton used while studying optics, and Charles Darwin’s microscope.
Ruskin Gallery
The Ruskin Gallery is situated at the back of the Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge campus, in the exhibition space of the Cambridge School of Arts. It’s a dynamic gallery, with constantly changing exhibits and a state of the art digital gallery.
