# List of museums in Greater Manchester

This list of museums in Greater Manchester, England contains museums which are defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical interest and 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 (i.e., virtual museums) are not included.
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 | Town/city | Region | Type | Summary |
| Astley Cheetham Art Gallery | Stalybridge | Tameside | Art | website, collections include 15th-century Italian paintings, British art of the 19th and 20th centuries, situated in Stalybridge town centre, above Stalybridge Library |
| Astley Green Colliery Museum | Astley | Wigan | Mining | Former coal mine with headgear, engine house, and collection of colliery locomotives |
| Bolton Museum | Bolton | Bolton | Multiple | Local history, natural history, archaeology, art, aquarium, ancient Egypt |
| Bolton Steam Museum | Bolton | Bolton | Technology | Preserved steam engines |
| Bramall Hall | Bramhall | Stockport | Historic house | Timber-framed Tudor manor house, parklands |
| British Muslim Heritage Centre | Manchester | Whalley Range | Historic building | A Grade II* building used to be a college for Nonconformists. Now, it features British Muslims involvement in WW II, and the House of Wisdom (an exhibition dedicated to civilization contributions by Muslims. The centre offers other cultural and community services. Open day is also available. http://www.bmhc.org.uk/ |
| Bury Art Museum | Bury | Bury | Multiple | Victorian paintings, contemporary art, photography and craft, local history and culture |
| Bury Transport Museum | Bury | Bury | Transportation | website, located in the former goods warehouse for the East Lancashire Railway, development of transport in the North West, railway cars and equipment, historic road vehicles and buses, steam rollers |
| Castlefield Gallery | Manchester | Manchester | Art | Artist-led gallery for contemporary visual art |
| Central Art Gallery | Ashton-under-Lyne | Tameside | Art | website, exhibits include paintings, sculpture, installation and textiles, also Rutherford Gallery with work by local artist Harry Rutherford |
| Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art | Manchester | Manchester | Art | Contemporary art from Chinese artists from around the world |
| Clayton Hall Living History Museum | Manchester | Manchester | | Once owned by the Byron family and Sir Humphrey Chetham. The hall is located on a mound (designated as an Ancient Monument) and reached by a stone bridge over the now dry moat. |
| Dunham Massey Hall | Dunham Massey | Trafford | Historic house | Operated by the National Trust, Georgian house, deer park, gardens |
| Elizabeth Gaskell's House | Manchester | Manchester | Historic house | Mid-19th-century home of author Elizabeth Gaskell and ties to other authors |
| Ellenroad Engine House | Newhey | Rochdale | Technology | Fully working 3000-horsepower cotton mill engine with its original steam plant, other steam engines |
| Fusilier Museum | Bury | Bury | Military | History and memorabilia of the Lancashire Fusiliers and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers |
| Gallery of Costume | Fallowfield | Manchester | Fashion | Clothing and accessories from the 17th century to the present, located in Platt Fields Park and operated by Manchester Art Gallery |
| Gallery Oldham | Oldham | Oldham | Multiple | Art, social and natural history collections alongside touring work, newly commissioned and contemporary art, international art and work produced with local communities |
| Greater Manchester Fire Service Museum | Rochdale | Rochdale | Firefighting | website, full-size fire appliances, equipment, uniforms, models, photographs, medals and insignia, memorabilia |
| Greater Manchester Police Museum | Manchester | Manchester | Law enforcement | Victorian police station and cells, magistrate's court, historic police equipment and uniforms, vehicles, forgery and forensic science |
| Haigh Hall | Wigan | Wigan | Historic house | Mid-19th-century country house open for tours |
| Hall i' th' Wood | Bolton | Bolton | Historic house | Early 16th-century timber-framed manor house, open by appointment and on special days |
| Hat Works | Stockport | Stockport | Industry | Hat-making industry, hats and headgear |
| Heaton Hall | Manchester | Manchester | Historic house | 18th-century period country house, located in Heaton Park and operated by Manchester Art Gallery |
| Heaton Park Tramway | Manchester | Manchester | Railway | Restored trams, located in Heaton Park |
| HOME | Manchester | Manchester | Art | International centre for contemporary visual arts and film |
| Horwich Heritage Centre | Horwich | Bolton | Local | website, local history, culture, industry, transportation |
| Imperial War Museum North | Trafford Park | Trafford | Military | 20th- and 21st-century conflicts involving British and Commonwealth citizens |
| John Rylands Library | Manchester | Manchester | Library | Exhibits of art, history, literature from its collections |
| The Lowry | Salford Quays | Salford | Art | Arts centre with exhibit galleries for modern and contemporary art, photography and design, and works by LS Lowry |
| Manchester Art Gallery | Manchester | Manchester | Art | Collection includes English, Dutch, French and Italian historic paintings, modern and contemporary art, works relating to Manchester, textiles, metalwork, toys, silverware and furniture |
| Manchester Jewish Museum | Cheetham Hill | Manchester | Ethnic | Located in a former late 19th-century Spanish and Portuguese synagogue, history and culture of Manchester's Jewish community |
| Manchester Museum | Manchester | Manchester | Multiple | Operated by the University of Manchester, natural history including dinosaurs and geology, Ancient Egypt, money, archery, archaeology, anthropology, city's history and culture, and vivarium |
| Manchester United Museum | Old Trafford | Trafford | Sports | History and memorabilia of Manchester United F.C., located at Old Trafford stadium |
| Mossley Industrial Heritage Centre | Mossley | Tameside | Industry | website, local cotton industry, houses in a former cotton-spinning mill |
| Museum of Science and Industry | Manchester | Manchester | Multiple | Science, technology, industry, transportation and the city's contributions |
| Museum of the Manchester Regiment | Ashton-under-Lyne | Tameside | Military | website, history and artifacts of the Manchester Regiment |
| Museum of Transport | Cheetham Hill | Manchester | Transportation | Buses and public transportation history |
| Museum of Wigan Life | Wigan | Wigan | Local | Formerly the History Shop and Wigan Public Library. Includes exhibits on local history, culture, archaeology and industry. |
| National Football Museum | Manchester | Manchester | Sports | Located in the Urbis building, association football history and memorabilia |
| Ordsall Hall | Ordsall | Salford | Historic house | Former stately home dating back to the 15th century, includes stained and painted glass, local history exhibits |
| Pankhurst Centre | Chorlton-on-Medlock | Manchester | Historic house | Home of suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst and family, history of the movement |
| Park Bridge Heritage Centre | Park Bridge | Tameside | Local | Local history, ironworks, natural history |
| People's History Museum | Spinningfields | Manchester | History | History of working people in the United Kingdom and labour relations |
| Portland Basin Museum | Ashton-under-Lyne | Tameside | Local | Local history, industry, trades, 1920s street with shops, period rooms, historic machines |
| Rochdale Pioneers Museum | Rochdale | Rochdale | History | Historic store and history of the early consumers' cooperative |
| Saddleworth Museum | Saddleworth | Oldham | Local | Local history, trades, textile industry, canals, railroads, transportation, culture, exhibits of local and regional contemporary art |
| Salford Museum and Art Gallery | Salford | Salford | Multiple | Local history, Victorian art, replica Victorian street with shops, contemporary art and photography exhibits |
| Smithills Hall | Bolton | Bolton | Historic house | Family home dating back to the 14th century, reflects medieval, Tudor and Victorian periods |
| Staircase House | Stockport | Stockport | Historic house | 15th-century medieval house with rooms from different centuries |
| Stockport Art Gallery | Stockport | Stockport | Art | website |
| Stockport Air Raid Shelters | Stockport | Stockport | Military | Almost 1 mile of underground air-raid shelters used during World War II |
| Stockport Museum | Stockport | Stockport | Local | website, local history, archaeology, industry, transportation, culture |
| Touchstones Rochdale | Rochdale | Rochdale | Multiple | Art, local history, culture |
| Trencherfield Mill Steam Engine | Wigan | Wigan | Technology | Massive 2,500 horse power working steam engine for the textile mill, open on Sundays |
| Whitworth Art Gallery | Moss Side | Manchester | Art | Collections include modern art, watercolours, sculpture, wallpaper and textiles, part of the University of Manchester |
| Wythenshawe Hall | Northenden | Manchester | Historic house | 16th-century Tudor house reflecting four centuries of use |

## Defunct museums

* Cube Gallery, Manchester, closed in 2013
* Setantii Museum, Ashton-under-Lyne, closed in 2012
* Urbis, former independent exhibition space, now home to the National Football Museum
* Vernon Park Museum, Offerton, closed in 2012
* Manchester Art Museum, also known as the Horsfall Museum or Ancoats Museum. It closed in 1953 and its contents were absorbed into the collection of Manchester City Art Gallery.
* The Cornerhouse was a centre for cinema and the contemporary visual arts. It merged with the Library Theatre Company, becoming HOME and relocating to a purpose-built site.