About

Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery opened on 11th June 1874 as the Blackburn Free Library and Museum. The museum now occupies the entire building and collections include British 19th and 20th century fine art; the R E Hart Collection of early books and coins; the Thomas Boys Lewis collection of Japanese prints; Greek and Russian Icons; Egyptology as well as the borough’s local history and industrial history collections, including the Lewis Textile Collection which was formerly housed at the Lewis Textile Museum.

FAQ

Item Donations

We do not take unsolicited donations into our collections, if you are interested in donating to us please get in touch with our collections team.

Collections

Visit

For information on visiting us, accessibility and parking please go to our Visit page.

Support Us

We are kindly supported by the Friends of Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery which anyone may join.

If you would like to donate to us you can do this in person or over the phone.

Learning

We offer a range of learning sessions for school and education groups, as well as materials for self-guided visits and loan boxes.

More information can be found on our Learning page.

Venue Hire

The Museum is available to hire for corporation and social events. To find out more, visit our Hire the Museum page.

Hire the Museum

Museum Friends & Partners

Community

Get Involved

Contact Us

Collections

Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery houses a rich and fascinating collection of paintings, Japanese prints, Christian icons, medieval manuscripts, natural history specimens, egyptian artefacts and of course the local and social history of its hometown, Blackburn.

Find out more