The City Museum occupies the former Town Hall on Market Square, a handsome Georgian building at the civic heart of the city. The collection covers Lancaster's history from the Roman fort of Longovicium through the medieval period, the Georgian slave-trade era, and the Victorian industrial boom.
The Roman gallery is particularly strong, with artefacts from the fort and bathhouse that underlie the old town. The Georgian section documents Lancaster's involvement in the Atlantic trade — including the slave trade — with enough honesty to make it a genuine historical record rather than a sanitised display.
Free entry. Combined visits with the Maritime Museum (a short walk away on the quay) make sense.