The Religion, Collections and Heritage Group wants to raise the profile of religious collections. The following is an attempt to start finding out what is where, by listing the museums and exhibitions that use their collections to tell a religious or related story. We shall welcome comments and suggested additions.
ENGLAND
Bedfordshire
Bedford: John Bunyan Museum (Congregational/Baptist)
Berkshire
Reading: Berkshire Freemasons Library & Museum
Birmingham
Birmingham Oratory Newman Museum
Bristol
Charles Wesley’s House (Methodist)
The New Room Museum (Methodist)
Buckinghamshire
Chalfont St. Giles: Milton’s Cottage
Cambridgeshire
Ely Cathedral Stained Glass Museum
Cheshire
Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum (Primitive Methodist)
Cornwall
Baldhu: Billy Bray’s Chapel (Methodist)
Boscastle: Museum of Witchcraft & Magic
Redruth: Busveal Chapel Visitor Centre
Trewint: Wesley Cottage (Methodist)
County Durham
Bishop Auckland: Weardale Museum (Methodist)
Bishop Auckland: Faith Museum project
Chester-le-Street: Ankers House Museum, St Mary and St Cuthbert
Irehopesburn: Weardale Museum Wesley Room
Ushaw: Historic House, Chapels & Gardens
Cumbria
Barrow-in-Furness: Furness Abbey Museum
Kendal: Quaker Tapestry Museum
Derbyshire
Derby: National Sikh Heritage Centre & Holocaust Museum
Dorset
Bridport: Chideock Church Museum
Poole: Dorset Provincial Masonic Museum
East Sussex
Brighton: Doreen Valiente Collection (Pagan)
Brighton: Sussex Masonic Museum
Essex
Southend-on-Sea: Prittlewell Priory
Stansted Mountfitchet: Britten Memorial Museum, Arthur Findlay College (Spiritualist)
Wickford: Provincial Grand Lodge of Essex library & museum
Gloucestershire
Lydney Park Roman temple, gardens and museum
Greater Manchester
The House of Wisdom Exhibition, British Muslim Heritage Centre
Hampshire
Beaulieu Abbey and Monastic Life Exhibition
Portsmouth: Genesis Expo (Creation Science Movement)
Winchester Cathedral Kings & Scribes exhibition
Herefordshire
Hereford: St John Medieval Museum and Coningsby Hospital
Hereford Cathedral: Mappa Mundi & Chained Library Exhibition
Hertfordshire
St Albans Cathedral The Power of Pilgrimage exhibition
Kent
Canterbury: St Augustine’s Abbey Museum & Exhibition,
Canterbury Cathedral Historic Collections
Canterbury: The Kent Museum of Freemasonry
Ramsgate: Shrine of St Augustine and the National Pugin Centre
Lancashire
Southport Masonic Hall historical collection
Stonyhurst College Historic Collections (Roman Catholic)
Warrington Museum of Freemasonry
Leicestershire
Leicester: Sikh Museum, Guru Teg Bahadur Gurdwara
Leicester: William Carey Museum, Central Baptist Church
Lincolnshire
Epworth Old Rectory (Methodist)
Lincoln Cathedral Connected Project
Lincoln: St Katherine’s Heritage & Cultural Centre
Liverpool
Liverpool Cathedral Elizabeth Hoare Gallery
London
All-Hallows-By-The-Tower Crypt Museum
Khalili Collection: Hajj & the Arts of Pilgrimage
Museum & Archive, The Swedenborg Society
Montefiore Synagogue textiles (Jewish)
Museum of the Book, London Baptist Church
Museum of the Order of St John
The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre
Shri Swaminarayan Mandir: Understanding Hinduism exhibition, Wembley
Sisters of Nazareth Heritage Centre
St Paul’s Cathedral Object Collection
Westminster Abbey Jubilee Galleries
St. Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral Museum
Westminster Synagogue Czech Memorial Scrolls Museum (Jewish)
Manchester
House of Wisdom, British Muslim Heritage Centre
Newcastle upon Tyne
Wesley Room, Brunswick Methodist Church
Norfolk
The Ickeny Collection – East Anglian Museum of Magic and Mythology
Norwich: Norfolk Museum of Freemasonry
Walsingham: Museum of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic)
Walsingham: St Seraphim’s Icon & Railway Heritage Museum (Orthodox)
Northamptonshire
Northampton: New Testament Church of God Heritage Centre
Northumberland
Nottinghamshire
Newark: National Holocaust Centre and Museum
Nottingham: The William Booth Birthplace Museum (Salvation Army)
Oxfordshire
Shrivenham: Museum of Army Chaplaincy
Somerset
Bath: Tafari Gallery, Fairfield House (Rastafarian)
South Tyneside
Staffordshire
Biddulph Grange Geological Gallery (Creationist)
Surrey
West Midlands
Sandwell: Bishop Asbury Cottage (Methodist)
Sutton Coldfield: College Museum, St Mary’s College Oscott (Roman Catholic)
West Sussex
East Grinstead: Saint Hill Manor (Scientology)
Felpham: William Blake Cottage
Wiltshire
Pewsey: Crop Circle Exhibition & Information Centre
Worcestershire
Eldersfield: Gadfield Elm Chapel Museum of Mormon History
Worcester: Worcestershire Masonic Library and Museum
Yorkshire
Halifax: Mount Zion Methodist Heritage Chapel
Kirklees: Dewsbury Minster Heritage Centre
Leeds: Kirkstall Abbey Visitor Centre
Fulneck Moravian Church & Museum
Ripon: Porter’s Lodge exhibition, Fountains Abbey
York Minster Undercroft Museum
York: Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre (Roman Catholic)
WALES
Abergavenny: St Mary’s Priory Tithe Barn
Betws-y-Coed: Ty Mawr Wybrnant (Birthplace of Bishop William Morgan)
Brecon: Howell Harris Museum (Calvinistic Methodist)
Holywell: St Winifride’s Well Museum
Dogmael’s Abbey Coach House Visitor Centre
St Teilo’s church, St Fagans, National Museum of Wales
Merthyr Tydfil: Jewish Heritage Centre project
SCOTLAND
Aberdeen: Blairs Museum, The Museum of Scotland’s Catholic Heritage
Arbroath: St Vigeans Sculptured Stones Museum
Biggar: Greenhill Covenanters’ House
Blantyre: David Livingstone Birthplace
Cromarty: Hugh Miller’s Birthplace Cottage and Museum (Free Church)
Dunblane Cathedral: Dunblane Museum
Dunkeld Cathedral Chapter House Museum
Edinburgh: Grand Lodge Museum, Freemasons’ Hall
Elgin Cathedral Stones Exhibition
Glasgow: St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art
Glasgow: Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre
Largs: Tyburn Convent Christian Heritage Museum
Paisley Abbey Sacristy Exhibition
NORTHERN IRELAND
Ballymena: Gracehill Old School Museum Room (Moravian)
Downpatrick: St Patrick Visitor Centre
Londonderry: St Columb’s Cathedral Museum
CHANNEL ISLANDS
St Helier: Jersey Masonic Temple Museum
Have we missed anything? If you are aware of a museum specialising in any aspect of religion that you think should be on this list, then please contact us at religionandcollections@gmail.com
Religion & Collections 