Grosvenor Museum

The Grosvenor Museum houses collections exploring the history of Chester, its art and silver heritage, and its natural history. There is a year round programme of special exhibitions and events, with an inspiring service for schools.

The Grosvenor Museum was built in 1885-6 to house the collections of the Chester Archaeological Society and the Chester Society of Natural Science, Literature and Art, together with schools of Science and Art. It was designed by the Chester Architect Thomas Meakin Lockwood.

The museum is named after Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1^st Duke of Westminster, who donated a portion of the site in Grosvenor Street and part of the building costs; the rest of the costs were met by public appeal.

At the rear of the museum you will find 20 Castle Street, the Museum’s Period House. The house was built around 1680 and its staircase with ‘barley sugar’ banisters dates from this time. It has been part of the Grosvenor Museum since 1955 and is now displayed as a sequence of nine period rooms dated from 1680 to 1925.