City Museum
Discover more about the City of Lancaster, one of England’s Heritage Cities, from the pre-historic era through to today. Our immersive galleries are packed with objects and stories exploring every aspect of the history of this wonderful city and its people.
![City Museum in Market Square](/_images/pageside/6210/CityMuseum2.jpg)
The impressive City Museum is housed in Lancaster’s former town hall, right on the edge of the busy Market Square. The elegant Georgian building was constructed between 1781-3 to the designs of Major Thomas Jarrett and Thomas Harrison.
The museum itself was founded in 1923 and its varied collection and dioramas lead visitors through the social and industrial history and archaeology of Lancaster, and the stories of the people who have made the city what it is today. Don't miss our fine art collection or the programme of changing exhibitions in our ground floor gallery.
The City Museum building is also home to the King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum, a fascinating insight into the military heritage of the city’s own regiment from 1680 onwards.
Monday | 10:30 – 16:00 |
Tuesday | 10:30 – 16:00 |
Wednesday | CLOSED |
Thursday | CLOSED |
Friday | 10:30 – 16:00 |
Saturday | 10:30 – 16:00 |
Sunday | 10:30 – 16:00 |
- Last admission to the upstairs galleries is at 15:30. Visitors arriving after this will be able to visit the museum shop and the ground floor temporary exhibition galleries only.
- Please check the web pages for our other museums to see their opening days and times, as each museum is different.
Admission is FREE, but donations are appreciated. There's a donation box for cash by the door – or we’ll be happy to put card donations through the till.
Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult
Only assistance dogs are permitted in the museum. This is because even well-behaved dogs are curious, and they sometimes need the loo. We can’t risk it for the sake of our fragile museum objects, which might get knocked over by a very waggy tail, and other visitors who may be nervous around dogs.
![Standfast exhibition poster](/_images/pageside/13309/Standfast-Barracks-Poster-724x1024.jpg)
Standfast & Barracks: A century of design
6 April to 30 June 2024
Standfast and Barracks is an internationally renowned Lancaster-based textile company. We have worked closely with their team to develop an interactive exhibition celebrating the company’s centenary.
This exhibition occupies our ground floor gallery, which is fully accessible to anyone with a wheelchair or limited mobility via the entrance ramp to the front door.
![100 Years 100 Objects Museums Podcast Banner](/_images/pageside/13348/Podcast.jpg)
100 Years, 100 Objects: Stories from the Collection of Lancaster City Museums
September 2023 to August 2024
2023 marked the 100th anniversary of our museums. As part of our centenary celebrations we created a series of podcasts about objects in our collection. These objects are now on display at the City Museum. They were selected by members of our museum team, academics, and members of community groups, who chose their favourites from our collection of over 50,000 items.
Please note that this exhibition is on the first floor of the building. Our stairlift is currently out of order, so this is only accessible to those able to climb two flights of stairs. We're very sorry for any dissappointment this may cause. We hope you will still enjoy listening to the podcast here.
You can find out more about exhibitions and events at all our museums here - or keep up to date with all the latest news on our Facebook page.