One of the oldest municipal museums in England, housed in a fine Victorian building dating from the 1850s. The collection spans natural history, archaeology, and fine art, with particular strength in local history and in Egyptian antiquities acquired in the 19th century. There are also finds from the Roman settlement at Wilderspool, which stood on the south bank of the Mersey and is now buried beneath modern Warrington.
The art gallery section has rotating exhibitions of regional and national work alongside a permanent collection of Victorian paintings. Admission is free. It is a solid morning's visit for anyone interested in local history or in the broader Victorian provincial museum tradition.