Leicester Guildhall

Since 1849 Leicester Museums & Galleries have been welcoming the public into our Museum Venues for free. We are a National Portfolio Organisation supported using public funding by Arts Council England. Connecting people and communities with the Story of Leicester, using the past to shape the future, unearthing 2,000 years of the city’s rich history and heritage. Inclusive museums and collections which reflect and share the lived experiences of our diverse local communities and are co-created with them. Taking museums and collections into communities to increase access and widen audiences. Creating exceptional and memorable experiences created through capital investment at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery and Jewry Wall: A Real Roman Experience. Using Leicester’s global collections to play our part in addressing the climate crisis. Supporting the development of the city’s future generations, sparking children and young people’s imagination and curiosity, developing their skills and tackling the inequalities which many of them face. Developing the financial sustainability of both paid for and free museums. Leicester Museum & Art Gallery opened in 1849 with 10,000 objects donated by the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society. The collection of curiosities, artwork, antiquities, fossils, animal, bird and insect specimens offered local people a window into the wider world. Today, the Museum has 15 galleries and is a popular place for people to meet, with a busy programme of events, lectures and educational visits. The Museum is also available for private hire and as a beautiful setting for wedding ceremonies and celebrations. Opened in 1891 as the City’s main sewage pumping station, this beautiful Victorian building still houses the 4 massive steam powered beam engines from its original use. Step through the doors beneath the 150-foot chimney and you will discover how Leicester’s Victorians tacked some of the big issues of the day, including how to keep clean water flowing for the growing City. Not only for the steam enthusiast, Abbey Pumping Station has exhibits that encourage all the family to get hands-on with science, industry, transport, health and hygiene. Immerse yourself in the stories of Roman Leicester through a multi-media exhibition at the Roman bathhouse ruins. See the finest collection of Roman discoveries in the Midlands including expertly crafted mosaics, ivory, glass, stone and metal jewellery. Experience everyday life in Roman Leicester including a visit to the bath house, shopping in the market and making your own Roman meal. Take an immersive tour through Roman Leicester, meet the residents and see how the Roman town developed - all in our multimedia exhibition. Book your ticket today! Leicester Guildhall dates back to medieval times and would have been a building of importance during the time of Richard III. The Great Hall, built in 1390, was a meeting place for the Guild of Corpus Christi, a select group of influential businessmen and gentry founded in 1343. The emblem of the Guild, the Host and Chalice, is featured in 15th century painted glass window fragments in the Mayor’s Parlour. Today, Leicester Guildhall thrives as a performance venue, attracting acts from across the country and as the home to the Medieval Leicester galleries. Walk the streets of medieval Leicester and uncover a world both familiar and very different to our own! Newarke Houses is made up of two 16th century residences owned by William Wygston and Thomas Skeffington. One of the buildings, Skeffington House, which was built between 1560 and 1583, is the only surviving Elizabethan urban gentry house in Leicestershire. Since 1953, Newarke Houses has brought together a collection of the things which make up people’s everyday lives. Come to see the collection of toys from the beginning of the 1500s to the present day, a thought-provoking regimental collection and First World War trench, a 1950s street scene with its shops and