Manchester Museum
Established | 1867 |
---|---|
Location | University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, England |
Type | University museum of archaeology, natural history and anthropology |
Director | Esme Ward[1] |
Website | museum.manchester.ac.uk |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
Official name | Manchester Museum Extensions |
Designated | 2 October 1974 |
Reference no. | 1246283 |
Manchester Museum is a museum displaying works of archaeology, anthropology and natural history and is owned by the University of Manchester, in England. Sited on Oxford Road (A34) at the heart of the university's group of neo-Gothic buildings, it provides access to about 4.5 million items from every continent. It is the UK's largest university museum and serves both as a major visitor attraction and as a resource for academic research and teaching. It has around 430,000 visitors each year.[2]
History
The museum's first collections were assembled by the Manchester Society of Natural History formed in 1821 with the purchase of the collection of
The college commissioned Alfred Waterhouse, architect of London's Natural History Museum, to design a museum to house the collections for the benefit of students and the public on a site in Oxford Road (then Oxford Street). The Manchester Museum was opened to the public in 1888. At the time, the scientific departments of the college were immediately adjacent, and students entered the galleries from their teaching rooms in the Beyer Building.[3][6]
Two subsequent extensions mirror the development of its collections. The 1912 pavilion was largely funded by
The museum is one of the University of Manchester's 'cultural assets', along with the
2020s redevelopment
Manchester Museum temporarily closed on 29 August 2021 for redevelopment. During this time the Museum is underwent the final phase of a £13.5 million reconstruction programme. The renovated museum includes a two-storey extension and new galleries including a large Exhibition Hall, Belonging Gallery, the Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Gallery and the South Asia Gallery. The South Asia Gallery is a partnership with the British Museum and will be the first ever permanent exhibition space in the UK dedicated to the stories, experiences and contributions of South Asian communities.[8] The museum reopened 18 February 2023 and managed to attract 52,000 visitors in its first week after reopening.[9]
Galleries and redevelopment
In 1997 the museum was awarded £12.5 million from the
The Manchester Gallery explores the changing relationship between the museum, Manchester and the rest of the world. It explores where collections came from and how they relate to colonialism and empire.
Living Worlds opened in April 2011 as a new type of natural history gallery to encourage visitors to reflect on their attitudes to nature. The gallery was designed by Brussels-based design firm villa eugenie. Exhibits include a mounted demoiselle crane with a piece of rubble from the Hiroshima atomic bomb blast and hundreds of origami cranes. Themed exhibits explore attitudes to nature and environmental issues. The gallery has a smartphone app, 'Living Worlds'. This gallery has an allotment in the courtyard in front of the museum, where volunteers grow fruit and vegetables and show visitors how to grow and look after plants.
Ancient Worlds opened in October 2012 and transformed the main galleries of the 1912 building. Discovering Archaeology explores how people make sense of the past using objects and includes exhibits on facial reconstruction and some of the characters who were involved in the development of archaeology and the museum, including
In June 2013 time-lapse footage showing a 10-inch Egyptian statue in the museum's collection, apparently spinning around unaided, attracted worldwide media attention.[10][11][12] Various theories were put forward, with the university's Professor Brian Cox suggesting "differential friction" between the glass shelf and the object, possibly caused by vibrations made by visitors, caused the object to move.[13] The museum's Egyptologist Campbell Price, said "it has been on those surfaces since we have had it and it has never moved before. And why would it go around in a perfect circle?".[13] The Manchester Evening News reported that the incident "sent visitor numbers soaring at the Manchester Museum",[14] and Tim Manley, head of marketing and communications, commented that "There's been a definite spike in visitors".[14]
Nature's Library opened in April 2013 displaying the museum's range of natural history, using a design inspired by a Gothic library to capitalise on the gallery's
In 2004 the museum acquired a reproduction cast of a fossil Tyrannosaurus rex which is mounted in a running posture.[15] "Stan", as it is called, is based on the second most complete T. rex excavated in 1992 in South Dakota, by Stan Sacrison.[citation needed]
Alchemy was a project initiating and facilitating artists' access to the museum and university. Funded by Arts Council England it offered four Alchemy Artist Fellowships, curated artist interventions in the permanent galleries and facilitated research and the loan of the museum's collections for contemporary art projects. Alchemy was the museum's first such sustained research programme. It aimed to reinvigorate displays, encourage diverse approaches and present alternative voices.
In August 2007, a temporary exhibition Myths About Race was opened.[16] Many Victorian institutions are now viewed as having contributed to the racist thinking that justified slavery. As part of the Revealing Histories: Remembering Slavery project, it explored difficult and sensitive issues.
Lindow Man was on display for a year from April 2008, on loan from the British Museum.[17]
Collections
Anthropology
The collection totals about 16,000 artefacts, nearly half of which are from Africa. Material from
Archaeology
The major collecting areas in archaeology have been Western Europe, the Mediterranean, Egypt and Western Asia. Large accessions of material from Egypt and Western Asia came from the excavations of Sir
The Egyptian Mummy Research Project, begun in 1973 under
Archery
The nucleus of the archery collection of about 2,000 exhibits was formed by
Botany
The Manchester Herbarium contains upwards of 950,000 specimens collected during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries and most countries are represented. Accessions are still made and many specialist enquiries are received. Only a small part of the collection is exhibited. Important contributions came from Charles Bailey and
Earth sciences
The geological collections are of more than local importance and consist of more than 9,000 mineralogical specimens and several hundred thousand fossils. Approximately one twentieth of the collection is displayed and the remainder in storage but available for study by interested persons. Much of the collecting was done in the second half of the 19th century and among the collections are the David Homfray collection from the Cambrian and Ordovician strata of Wales and the collections of George H. Hickling and D. M. S. Watson from the Silurian of the Dudley district, West Midlands and from the Old Red Sandstone. Other specimens include the fossilised plants of the
Entomology
The museum's collection amounts to nearly 3 million specimens. It has 10,500 type specimens (of 2,300 species) and additions are frequently made to it.
Numismatic collection
The first coins were donated by the businessman Reuben Spencer in 1895 and the rest of his collection of European coins and commemorative medals in various metals was donated in instalments. Alfred Güterbock deposited, then bequeathed a collection of 380 Greek gold, silver and copper coins together with some Roman coins. In the next forty years four benefactions were made: in 1912 from William Smith Churchill (European coins of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries); in 1925 William Smith Ogden's collection of antiquities, including Greek and Roman coins; in 1939 Egbert Steinthal, honorary keeper of the coin room, presented his collection of English copper coins; and in 1958 Harold Raby's bequest of Greek and Roman coins. Harold Raby succeeded Steinthal as honorary keeper and they were responsible for work on the arrangement and identification of the coins.[33] The museum also holds the Great Jackson Street Hoard a hoard of 26 Roman coins found in Manchester near the junction of Chester Road and Great Jackson Street at some point in the 1890s.[34] The hoard is unusual for British hoards in that 19 of the coins were struck in third century Alexandria.[34]
Amphibians
The museum's collection of live
Mammals
The collection includes several thousand mammal specimens. Many mounted specimens are from the original Manchester Natural History Society collection. Mounted mammals include a
Birds
The collection includes approximately 15,000 bird study skins from more than 2,000 species mostly from 1850 to 1950. A collections of birds was transferred from the
Notable specimens include a male and female
Corals
The museum has many specimens of
Bryozoa
The museum holds the bryozoa collection of Arthur Waters, a naturalist who lived near Manchester. Waters described the bryozoa of the Challenger expedition. The collection includes approximately 10,000 specimens including hundreds of type specimens. The museum also holds the bryozoa collection of Eliza Jelly, another eminent 19th-century bryozoologist.
Molluscs
The museum has the fourth largest mollusc collection in Britain with 166,000 lots.[36] The collection grew around that of the Manchester Society for the Promotion of Natural History, which acquired one of William Swainson's shell collections in 1825 and which also included the collection of Captain Thomas Brown.[36] Catalogue of type specimens was published in 2008.[36]
Type material is found in the collections of
Spirit collection
The collection includes around 5,000 spirit specimens from the 19th and early 20th century, although more recent acquisitions include the
Microscope slides
The collection includes the
Repatriation of artefacts
In late October 2019 the first collection of many sacred artefacts belonging to
In September 2023, Manchester Museum returned 174 artefacts to Indigenous Australian people, encouraging cultural institutions to "recognize harm but also encourage healing". The director for culture and emergencies at UNESCO, Krista Pikkat, said "May this occasion be a source of inspiration, encouraging others to embark on similar journeys."[40] The Anindilyakwa women attending the ceremony at the Museum received objects from the collection including carvings, baskets, decorations and a major collection of shell dolls.[41][42]
Notable members of staff
- Tristram Besterman, director
- Harry Ferris Brazenor (1863–1948), taxidermist.[43]
- Harry Britten, assistant keeper of Entomology, 1918–38
- Rosalie David, Egyptologist
- William Boyd Dawkins, geologist and archaeologist
- Michael Eagar, geologist, deputy director 1977–87[44]
- William Evans Hoyle, Director 1889–1909
- archaeologist and geologist.
- Nick Merriman, director
- David Elystan Owen, Director; author of books about canals
- Barbara Pyrah, assistant keeper of geology 1965–1968
- Christina Riggs, curator of Egyptology 2004–2006
- Walter Medley Tattersall, zoologist, director 1909–22
See also
References
This article incorporates CC-BY-3.0 text from reference.[36]
- ^ "Manchester Museum appoints first female Director". manchester.ac.uk.
- ^ "REVEALED | Manchester's Most Popular Tourist Attractions". Confidentials. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
- ^ a b "The History of the Manchester Museum". Archived from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
- ^ McKechnie, H. M., ed. Manchester in Nineteen Hundred and Fifteen. Manchester: University Press; p. 51
- ^ Thompson, Joseph (1886) The Owens College: its Foundation and Growth. Manchester: J. E. Cornish; pp. 282–86
- ^ Charlton, H. B. (1951) Portrait of a University. Manchester: U. P.; chap. V
- ISBN 0-300-10583-5.
- ^ "Manchester Museum to close for final stage of transformation". 12 August 2021.
- ^ Sergeant, Emily (6 March 2023). "Manchester Museum saw a massive 52,000 people visit during its opening week". The Manc. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- Daily News. New York. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
- ^ Dan Kedmey (25 June 2013). "WATCH: Spinning Statue at Manchester Museum Mystifies Staff". Time. New York. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
- ^ "Manchester Museum's moving Egyptian statue puzzler". BBC News. London. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
- ^ a b "Mystery as museum statue starts turning in display case". The Daily Telegraph. London. 23 June 2013. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
- ^ a b Richard Wheatstone (25 June 2013). "'Moving statue' sets the turnstiles spinning as visitors flock to Manchester Museum". Manchester Evening News. Manchester. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
- ^ "Stan the T. rex – facts". BBC. 3 November 2004. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
- ^ Revealing Histories: Myths About Race press release 7 August 2007, University of Manchester, [1][permanent dead link]
- ^ Manchester Prepares for the Appearance of Lindow Man Culture24, February 2007, accessed 24 November 2009.
- ^ The Manchester Museum. Derby: English Life, 1985; pp. 11–13
- ISBN 978-1-78735-141-7.
- ^ Yates, Tim (1975) The University of Manchester. Manchester: Victoria University of Manchester; p. 13
- ISBN 9781445684598; pp. 52-53
- ^ The Manchester Museum. Derby: English Life, 1985; p. 5
- ^ The Manchester Museum (1985)
- ISSN 0262-4079
- ^ British Archaeological Awards, Council for British Archaeology, 19 July 2010, retrieved 7 February 2014
- ^ The Manchester Museum. Derby: English Life, 1985; pp. 18–19
- ^ Boehm, H. (1981). "In Memoriam: Inger Kristine Frith, O.B.E." (PDF). FITA: Bulletin Officiel of the International Archery Federation. 30-31-32. Milan: 4–5. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ Manchester Museum. "The Herbarium". Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- ^ The Manchester Museum. Derby: English Life, 1985; pp. 6–8
- ^ The Manchester Museum. Derby: English Life, 1985; pp. 14–15
- ^ "Other Major Collectors". Rocks and Minerals. Manchester Museum. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
- ^ The Manchester Museum. Derby: English Life, 1985; pp. 9–10
- ^ The Manchester Museum. Derby: English Life, 1985; pp. 16–17
- ^ a b Sugden, K.F. (1995). "An unrecorded Alexandrian coin hoard from Manchester" (PDF). Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. 145. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ McGhie, HA 2005. Specimens of extinct and endangered birds in the collections of the Manchester Museum, the University of Manchester, UK. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 125: 247–252.
- ^ a b c d e f McGhie, Henry A. (17 December 2008). "Catalogue of type specimens of molluscs in the collection of The Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester, UK". .
- ^ Beavan, Katrina. "Sacred Indigenous artefacts handed back to Aranda and Bardi Jawi elders after 100 years in US". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
- ^ "Manchester Museum makes moves towards repatriation and diversity". Manchester Museum. April 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-5261-4414-0.
- ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
- ^ "'The first time I saw them it made me cry': Indigenous artefacts returned after decades in English museum". ABC News. 5 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ISBN 9780415581783. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
- ^ "Michael Eagar" (PDF). Coprolite (41): 2. June 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
Further reading
- The Manchester Museum. Derby: English Life, 1985 (24 pp.; col. illustrations and plan) ISBN 0-85101-249-3
- The Manchester Museum. Manchester: the Museum, 1998 (22 pp.; col. illustrations and plan)
- The Manchester Museum: Window to the World. 2012 (col. illustrations)
- Cook, L.M and Logunov, D.V. 2016. Joseph Sidebotham's Lepidoptera. p. 9 – 16 The Linnean Newsletter and Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London