Maritime and Naval Museums in Britain and Ireland
Compiled by Martin H. Evans and Janet West. © 2009.
Regional index to museums.
This page lists the maritime and naval museums, and museum-ships, of
Britain and Ireland indexed on a regional basis. Click on the region
you are interested in, go on to the county or shire and when you have
found a museum of interest, click on it to get the details from the
main alphabetical list.
Alternatively, you could use the navigation bar above, to access a
set of small scale maps of the British Isles, where locations of
maritime museums are shown approximately, marked with small
"blue anchor" icons.
This page indexes museums under counties or shires. Changes in
the structure of local government in Britain have created very many
smaller Unitary Authorities and Councils centred on large towns and
often including some smaller towns nearby. These are now
administratively separate from the counties or shires from which they
have been created, but to assist readers in finding where museums are,
on a map of the British Isles, I have in these cases included the name
of the old parent county [in brackets] in the location address. It
is these county names that are used as the basis for all this index,
generally ignoring many recent 'North-', 'South-', 'East-' and 'West-'
subdivisions.
Find museums in:
Museums in the Greater London area:
'HMS' Belfast
Collection of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers
Cutty Sark Clipper Ship
Imperial War Museum
Lady Daphne (NMV)
Lloyd's Nelson Collection
The London Canal Museum
Museum in Docklands
Museum of London
National Maritime Museum
Royal Air Force Museum
Old Royal Naval College
Steam Tug Portwey
Science Museum
St. Katharine's Dock
Thames Police Museum
Kings Reach: several historic vessels are moored alongside the
Victoria Embankment. Most are now non-museum vessels in commercial
use:
Hispaniola (was Maid of Ashton)
President (formerly: HMS Saxifrage) DV.
Queen Mary (was Queen Mary II)
PS Tattershall Castle (NMV)
HQS Wellington
Museums in England (excluding London):
Bath and North East Somerset:
The American Museum in Britain
Bedfordshire:
The Shuttleworth Collection
Berkshire:
Blake's Lock Riverside Museum
Gaiety (1887) Thames boat (NMV)
SL Nuneham Thames boat (NMV)
Bristol City:
Bristol Industrial Museum
Bristol Maritime Heritage Centre
The SS Great Britain
Buckinghamshire (incl Milton Keynes):
Beatty Museum
Bletchley Park
Cambridgeshire (incl Peterborough):
Duxford Airfield (Imperial War Museum)
Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery
Scott Polar Research Institute
Cheshire:
Anderton Boat Lift
Ellesmere Port Museum (was The Boat Museum)
ex-Cleveland (Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and
Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees):
Captain Cook Birthplace Museum
Hartlepool Historic Quay
Museum of Hartlepool
Kirkleatham [Old Hall] Museum
Saltburn Smugglers Heritage Centre
'HMS' Trincomalee
PS Wingfield Castle
Zetland Lifeboat Museum
Cornwall:
Bude Heritage Centre and Gallery
Cotehele Quay Museum
Mevagissey Folk Museum
National Maritime Museum Cornwall
Padstow Museum
Royal Cornwall Museum
Shipwreck Rescue and Heritage Centre
Porthcurno Telegraph Museum (was Museum of Submarine Telegraphy)
Trinity House National Lighthouse Museum
Cumbria:
The Beacon
The Dock Museum
Maryport Maritime Museum
Ruskin Museum
Windermere Steamboat Museum
Devon:
Arlington Court
Britannia Royal Naval College
Brixham Heritage Museum
Burton Art Gallery and Museum
Dartmouth Museum
Hartland Quay Museum
Ilfracombe Museum
Morwellham Quay Historic Port and Copper Mine
North Devon Maritime Museum
Overbecks Museum and Garden
Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery
Plymouth National Marine Aquarium
Plymouth Naval Base Visitor Centre
Salcombe Lifeboat Station Museum
Salcombe Maritime Museum
Smeaton's Tower
Teignmouth & Shaldon Museum and Historical Society
Topsham Museum
Dorset (incl Poole):
Bridport Museum and Art Gallery
Museum of Net Manufacture
Old Lifeboat House
Royal National Lifeboat Institution Headquarters
Waterfront Museum
Essex:
Brightlingsea Museum
Burnham-on-Crouch and District Museum
Harwich Maritime Museum
Maldon District Museum
Mersea Island Museum
The [National] Motor Boat Museum
Nottage Maritime Institute
Walton Maritime Museum
Gloucestershire:
National Waterways Museum
Hampshire (including Portsmouth & Southampton):
British Military Powerboat Trust
Buckler's Hard Maritime Museum
HMS Collingwood Communications and Radar Museum
Emsworth Museum
Explosion! Museum of Naval Firepower.(was Naval Ordnance Museum)
The Hovercraft Museum Trust
The Mary Rose
Portsmouth area in general
Royal Marines Museum
Royal Naval Museum
Royal Navy Submarine Museum
SS Shieldhall
Southampton Maritime Museum
HMS Victory
'HMS' Warrior 1860
Isle of Wight:
Shipwreck Centre & Maritime Museum (was the Bembridge Maritime Museum)
Blackgang Sawmill and St Catherine's Quay
The Classic Boat Museum
Cowes Maritime Museum
Fort Victoria Museum
Sir Max Aitken Museum
Museum of Smuggling History
Kent:
'HMS' Cavalier
Chatham Historic Dockyard (was "World Naval Base")
Chatham Dockyard Historical Society Museum
Deal Maritime and Local History Museum
Deal Timeball Tower
Dolphin Yard Sailing Barge Museum
Dover Museum
Ramsgate/East Kent Maritime Museum
'HMS' Gannet
PS Kingswear Castle (NMV)
PS Medway Queen (NMV)
HM Submarine Ocelot
Rochester Guildhall Museum
Whitstable Museum and Gallery
Whitstable Oyster and Fishery Exhibition
Lancashire:
Fleetwood Museum
Lancaster Maritime Museum
Lytham Lifeboat Museum
Wooden Canal Boat Society
Leicestershire:
Foxton Canal Museum
Lincolnshire:
Boston Guildhall Museum
Immingham Museum
Fishing Heritage Centre, Grimsby
Merseyside:
Historic Warships at Birkenhead
This collection is now closed and being dispersed. It used to include
the following vessels:
'HMS' Bronington
HM Submarine Onyx
'HMS' Plymouth
and the salvaged U534.
Merseyside Maritime Museum
Including:
HM Customs & Excise National Museum
International Slavery Museum
Western Approaches Museum
Williamson Art Gallery and Museum
Norfolk:
Albion
The Museum of the Broads
Cromer Museum
Cromer RNLI Henry Blogg Museum
The Henry Ramey Upcher Private Lifeboat, Sheringham
King's Lynn Tourist Information Centre and Maritime Exhibition
Lynn Museum
Maritime Museum for East Anglia: see
Time and Tide Museum of Great Yarmouth Life
Marshland Maritime Museum (Kings Lynn)
The Mo (Sheringham)
Mundesley Maritime Museum
The Norfolk Nelson Museum
The Sheringham Museum
Sheringham Fishermen's Heritage Centre
Time and Tide Museum of Great Yarmouth Life
True's Yard Fishing Heritage Centre
Wells Maritime Museum
Northamptonshire:
The Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne
Northumberland:
Grace Darling Museum
Marine Life and Fishing Heritage Centre
Royal Fleet Auxiliary Association Archive
Nottinghamshire:
Newark Air Museum
Oxfordshire:
River and Rowing Museum
Somerset:
[Admiral] Blake Museum
Fleet Air Arm Museum
Watchet Boat Museum
Watchet Market House Museum
Suffolk:
Aldeburgh Museum
Alfred Corry Lifeboat Museum, Southwold
Dunwich Museum
Felixstowe Landguard Fort
Felixstowe Museum
HMS Ganges Association Museum
Museum of Knots and Sailor's Ropework
Lowestoft and East Suffolk Maritime Heritage Museum
Lowestoft War Memorial Museum
Lydia Eva (YH 89)
Mincarlo (LT412)
MTB 102 (NMV)
Royal Naval Patrol Service Association's Museum
Southwold Museum
Southwold Sailors' Reading Room
Suffolk Underwater Studies
Sutton Hoo Ship Burial Site
Sussex (East):
Brighton Fishing Museum
Hastings Fishermen's Museum
Lifeboat Museum (Eastbourne)
Newhaven Local and Maritime Museum
Newhaven Fort
Shipwreck Heritage Centre
Sussex (West):
Littlehampton Museum
Marlipins Museum
Selsey Lifeboat Museum
Tyne & Wear:
[Newcastle] Discovery Museum
South Shields Museum and Art Gallery
Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens
Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade Museum
West Midlands:
Black Country Living Museum
Wiltshire:
Kennet and Avon Canal Museum
Yorkshire (East Riding, incl Kingston upon Hull):
Arctic Corsair (H320)
Bridlington Harbour Heritage Museum
The Deep
Ferens Art Gallery
Goole Museum and Art Gallery
Hull Maritime Museum (was: Town Docks Museum)
Sewerby Hall Art Gallery and Museum (Museum of East Yorkshire)
Spurn Lightship
Town Docks Museum, Hull: see Hull Maritime Museum
Waterways Museum and Adventure Centre, ex Sobriety Project:
see Yorkshire Waterways Museum
Yorkshire Waterways Museum
Yorkshire (North, incl York):
Captain Cook Memorial Museum, Whitby
Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum, Great Ayton
Captain Cook and Staithes Heritage Centre
Filey Museum
Whitby Archives and Heritage Centre
Whitby RNLI Lifeboat Museum
Whitby Museum
Yorkshire Air Museum
Yorkshire (West):
Standedge Visitor Centre
Museums in Wales:
Anglesey/Ynys Mon:
Holyhead Maritime Museum
Caermarthenshire:
National Coracle Centre
Cardiff:
126 Bute Street, Cardiff.
Ceredigion:
Ceredigion Museum
Denbighshire:
Rhyl Library, Museum and Arts Centre
Gwynedd:
Barmouth RNLI Museum
Barmouth Sailors' Institute, and Ty Gwyn and Ty Crwn
Caernarfon (Seiont II) Maritime Museum
Porthmadog Maritime Museum
[Seiont II Maritime Museum - see Caernarfon]
Monmouthshire:
The Nelson Museum and Local History Centre
Pembrokeshire:
Milford Haven Museum
Pembroke Dock Gun Tower Museum
Tenby Museum and Art Gallery
Swansea:
National Waterfront Museum
Swansea Maritime and Industrial Museum: see
National Waterfront Museum
Museums in Scotland:
Aberdeenshire (incl City of Aberdeen):
Aberdeen Maritime Museum
Arbuthnot Museum
Fraserburgh Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen
Museum of Scottish Lighthouses
Peterhead Maritime Heritage
Tolbooth Museum
Angus:
Arbroath Signal Tower Museum
Broughty Castle Museum
Discovery Point and Scott's ship 'Discovery'
McManus Galleries
Montrose Museum
The Frigate Unicorn
Argyll & Bute:
Inveraray Maritime Museum (was The Arctic Penguin Maritime Heritage Centre)
Campbeltown Museum
Museum of Islay Life
Ayrshire:
McKechnie Institute
North Ayrshire Museum
Scottish Maritime Museum
Caithness:
Wick Heritage Centre
Dumfries & Galloway:
John Paul Jones Cottage Museum
Dunbartonshire:
Clydebank Museum
Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank
Edinburgh:
National Museum of Scotland
The Royal Yacht Britannia (at Leith)
Fife:
Buckhaven Museum
Crail Museum and Heritage Centre
Scottish Fisheries Museum
Glasgow:
MV Balmoral (NMV)
Clydebuilt Maritime Museum
The Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour (was: Clyde Maritime Centre)
Sailing Ship Glenlee
Museum of Transport
Waverley Paddle Steamer (NMV)
Highland:
Gairloch Heritage Museum
Nairn [Fishertown] Museum
Moray:
Buckie & District Fishing Heritage Centre
The Peter Anson Gallery
Lossiemouth Fisheries and Community Museum
Tugnet Ice House, Spey Bay
Renfrewshire:
McLean Museum and Art Gallery
Scottish Borders:
Eyemouth Marine Centre and World of Boats
Eyemouth Museum
West Lothian
Linlithgow Union Canal Museum
Museums in Northern Ireland:
Belfast:
Ulster Museum
Co Down:
Ulster Folk and Transport Museum
Co Londonderry:
Derry Harbour Museum
Derry Workhouse Museum
Co Tyrone:
Ulster American Folk Park
Museums in the Republic of Ireland:
Co Cork:
1796 Bantry French Armada Exhibition Centre
Cobh Museum
Irish Naval Service Museum
Mizen Head Visitor Centre
The Queenstown Story
Co Donegal:
Inishowen Maritime Museum
aka: Greencastle Maritime Museum
Co Dublin:
National Maritime Museum of Ireland
Waterways Visitor Centre
Co Kerry:
The Skellig Experience Heritage Centre
Co Limerick:
Limerick Museum
Co Wexford:
Dunbrody Emigrant Ship
Kilmore Quay Maritime Museum
Duncannon Fort
Co Wicklow:
Arklow Maritime Museum
Avondale House and Forest Park.
Museums in the offshore islands:
Alderney, Channel Islands:
Alderney Society Museum
Cumbrae (North Ayrshire):
Robertson [Marine Life] Museum and Aquarium
Guernsey, Channel Islands:
Castle Cornet
Fort Grey Shipwreck Museum
German Naval Signals HQ Bunker Museum
Isle of Lewis:
Museum Nan Eilean
Isle of Man:
House of Manannan
The Manx Museum, Douglas
The Nautical Museum
Isles of Scilly:
Isles of Scilly Museum Association
Valhalla Figurehead Museum
Jersey, Channel Islands:
The Maritime Museum
Orkney:
Orkney Wireless Museum
Scapa Flow Visitor Centre and Museum
Stromness Museum
Shetland:
Scalloway Museum
Shetland Museum
Unst Boat Haven
Tiree:
Skerryvore Museum
The material on this page carries no approval by or official sanction from the University of Cambridge or any of its Colleges Departments or other Institutions, who have no responsibility for its contents or any inaccuracies.
This index edited 14 September 2009. Copyright 2003-2009 by Martin H. Evans and Janet West.
Dr. Martin H. Evans e-mail: mhe1000 @ hermes.cam.ac.uk (delete spaces)
Dr Janet West.
Scott Polar Research Institute,
University of Cambridge,
Lensfield Road,
Cambridge CB2 1ER,
England
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