Science and Industry Museum

The museum is housed inside the former Liverpool Road railway station and the museum’s highlights include the world’s largest collection of working steam mill engines and the world’s first computer, developed in Manchester in 1948.

What to see at Science and Industry Museum

The museum site is split across several buildings, including Power Hall, Great Western Warehouse and the 1830 Station and Warehouse.

Power Hall

Power Hall is located in a former railway shed and has displays of railway locomotives and a large collection of working steam engines.

Exhibits at Power Hall include the 1907 McNaught Engine, a 30-tonne hydraulic accumulator, a replica of the Novelty steam locomotive that ran in the 1829 Rainhill Trials and the Beyer-Garratt articulated steam locomotive, which was made in Gorton (in Manchester’s eastern suburbs) and used in South Africa until 1972.

Great Western Warehouse

The Great Western Warehouse has exhibition spaces that include Experiment, Revolution Manchester, the Textile Gallery and the Hidden Treasures Gallery in the museum’s Collections Centre.

The Experiment gallery has interactive hands-on science exhibits geared mainly towards children.

The Revolution Manchester gallery showcases the technological advances that took place in Manchester that laid the foundations for the modern world. Exhibits include displays about the Industrial Revolution including Manchester’s cotton industry, a replica AVRO F aeroplane and a replica of the Manchester Baby (or Small-Scale Experimental Machine computer), the world’s first stored-program computer which was the basis for the Ferranti Mark 1, the world’s first commercially available computer (another Manchester innovation). Demonstrations of the Baby computer often take place between 10am and 3pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

The Textiles Gallery showcases Manchester’s role as the hub of the world’s cotton and textile industries and features working textile machinery, Richard Arkwright’s water frame and a model of Watt’s Warehouse.

The Hidden Treasures Gallery in the museum’s Collections Centre on the lower ground floor has interesting exhibits that focus on specific parts of Manchester’s industrial history including displays about coal mining plus microscopes produced by John Benjamin Dancer and equipment used by James Joule in his discovery of the first law of thermodynamics.

1830 Station and Warehouse

The Station Building is comprised of the former Liverpool Road railway station, which closed in 1975 and was the world’s first railway station and the terminus of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the world’s first intercity railway line.

Exhibits in this part of the museum highlight the impact of this historic railway line and show the importance of the railway during the Victorian era and the railways’ role in the Industrial Revolution and the growth of industrial cities in England’s north.

Temporary exhibitions

In addition to the above permanent exhibitions, the museum also has a programme of temporary exhibitions. These exhibitions are housed in the dedicated Special Exhibitions Building.

Current and planned temporary exhibitions include:

Injecting Hope: The race for a Covid-19 vaccine
Injecting Hope (until 17 November 2024) features a diverse collection of artworks and personal items that highlight the collaboration of scientists and innovators worldwide. For the first time in Manchester, you can see unique objects that tell the city’s pandemic story. The exhibition showcases over 100 pieces, including the vial of the first vaccine administered and personal items from key figures in the vaccine’s development.

Visiting the Science and Industry Museum

The museum is located at the southwestern edge of Manchester city centre. It is only a five-minute walk to Spinningfields and a 10– 15-minute walk to the Central Retail District. The closest railway station is Deansgate, which is a seven-minute walk.

Admission to the museum is free, although there is a charge for flight simulator rides and some temporary exhibitions.

The Warehouse Cafe in the Great Western Warehouse near the museum entrance on Lower Byrom Street serves coffee and light snacks such as sandwiches, cakes and pastries. There is also a Bistro up on the first floor of the same building that has more substantial meals.

If you have brought your own food, you can enjoy it in the picnic area in the Air and Space Hall.

It is a large museum and many visitors easily spend longer than three hours exploring the exhibition spaces.