National Waterways Museum

About this activity

You can experience history before you even walk into the National Waterways Museum, as the complex is actually houses in part of a 200-year-old historic dock, which was originally designed by Thomas Telford!

In fact, the dock back in the day was a major transshipment point for cargoes that were travelling between Liverpool and the inland waterway network. In fact, the complex is one of the largest and most complete dock complexes in the UK!

All of this makes it the perfect location to house the National Waterways Museum, with its collection that further enhances the telling of the Industrial Revolution in Britain through boats, buildings, objects as well as their archive.

What's great about the museum as the indoor and outdoor experiences offer something different. Outdoors, you can savour the peacefulness and absorb the history oozing from the Grade II listed buildings! Kids can even learn about the lives and work of the canal people as they make their way around ths seven-acre site. 

Don't miss the temporary exhibitions that the museum hosts too across the year, including special events for Easter, Halloween and Christmas!

Also during your time at the museum, make sure you visit Porters Row which are just to the side of the docks. These four cottages were originally built in 1833 and over the years home to shipwrights, blacksmiths, railway workers, porters and their families.

Today the cottages represent real-life homes from the 1830s, 1900s, 1930s and 1950s so you can really re-live history first hand!

A fascinating day out in Cheshire!