Collections
Hull Museums has a wealth of diverse and interesting collections which are stored over a number of museum sites. This section allows you to take a thematic approach to exploring our collections, as each theme encompasses a wide variety of different types of objects and disciplines. Stories in each theme have links to many different subjects across many different collections, which allows you to discover related objects and interesting facts about our collections across the service.
Wilberforce and slavery
Wilberforce House Museum, opened in 1906 and recently refurbished, is the birthplace of slavery abolitionist William Wilberforce. The museum explores the history of slavery, abolition and the legacy of slavery today. This section explores the history of the house and its former occupants, wilberforce the man and politician and the slavery collections including contemporary issues.
How we used to live
Hull has a very rich and varied history. It has developed over the centuries from a small walled town to a bustling city, and has seen many major historical events that have shaped its history and the lives of the people who lived here. The stories here explore the way we used to live - what clothes we wore, where we used to work and how our lives were affected by wider conflicts and events. It also looks at the lives of famous local born people, their achievements and how they contributed to the City's interesting past.
Collectors and Collections
Museums are made up of many different collections spanning a diverse range of disciplines. Each with its own unique history of development. Throughout the museum's history, objects have been donated, bequeathed and purchased to form the collections we hold today. The buildings themselves have also changed over time, as new museums have opened, old ones have closed, and interior displays have been refurbished to present new exhibitions to the public. Read about the Hull Museums' development, the collections we have and the collectors who contributed their life's work to the museum collections.
Weird and wonderful
This section concentrates on the Weird and wonderful collections we have at Hull Museums. These collections crop up in all the museums in Hull subjects including archaeology, art, natural history and Egyptian replicas.
On the move
Hull Museums has a wealth of early modes of transport, from fantastic state coaches and carriages, to vintage cars, bicycles and even a sleigh. Read about the evolution of our transport heritage in the following pages.
Hull and the sea
The Humber estuary links the rivers of Yorkshire and the East Midlands with the North Sea. Hull developed as an important port where the River Hull meets the Humber. Products from the surrounding area were exported to northern Europe, and raw materials of the Baltic region, mainly timber, were imported into England. It continued to grow with more and more docks being established and trade thriving.
This section of our website illustrates Hull's connection with the sea by exploring the museum collections ranging from archaeological finds to artwork.
