Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester
Encyclopedia
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England, is a large museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
devoted to the development of science, technology, and industry with emphasis on the city's achievements in these fields. It is an Anchor Point of ERIH – the European Route of Industrial Heritage
European Route of Industrial Heritage
The European Route of Industrial Heritage is a network of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. The aim of the project is to create interest for the common European Heritage of the Industrialisation and its remains...
– and is managed as a non-departmental public body
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
.
There are extensive displays on the theme of transport (railway locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s and rolling stock, aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
, and space vehicles), power (water, electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
, steam
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
and gas engine
Gas engine
A gas engine means an engine running on a gas, such as coal gas, producer gas biogas, landfill gas, or natural gas. In the UK, the term is unambiguous...
s), Manchester's sewerage
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
and sanitation
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
, textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
s, communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
s and computing
Computing
Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...
. The museum also offers steam train rides at weekends and on bank holidays.
History
The museum was originally called the "North Western Museum of Science and Industry" when it opened in 1969 in temporary premises on Grosvenor Street in Chorlton-on-MedlockChorlton-on-Medlock
Chorlton-on-Medlock is an inner city area of Manchester, England.Historically a part of Lancashire, the northern border of Chorlton-on-Medlock is the River Medlock which runs immediately south of Manchester city centre. Its other borders roughly correspond to Stockport Road, Hathersage Road, Moss...
. In 1978 the Greater Manchester Council purchased the earliest part of the former Liverpool Road Station
Liverpool Road railway station (Manchester)
Manchester Liverpool Road is a former railway station on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in Manchester, England which opened on 15 September 1830. The L&MR station was the terminus of the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all services were hauled by timetabled steam locomotives...
from British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
, which had been closed in 1975. The council paid the nominal sum of £1 for the site. The museum opened at this site on 15 September 1983, and later expanded to include the whole of the former station.
The museum used to be located on Grosvenor St to the south of the city centre, and had close ties with UMIST
UMIST
The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for research...
, having mostly grown out of the Department of History of Science & Technology. In 1983, having obtained more funding and outgrown its former site, it moved and is now located on Castlefield
Castlefield
Castlefield is an inner city area of Manchester, in North West England. The conservation area which bears its name is bounded by the River Irwell, Quay Street, Deansgate and the Chester Road. It was the site of the Roman era fort of Mamucium or Mancunium which gave its name to Manchester...
, near the site of the original Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
fort
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
in Manchester (Mamucium); it incorporates Liverpool Road Station (vacated by British Rail in 1975), one of the original termini of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
Liverpool and Manchester Railway
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and were hauled for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives. The line opened on 15 September 1830 and ran between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester in North...
, the world's first passenger railway.
Exhibitions
Exhibits at the Museum of Science and Industry include:Aircraft:
- A complete RAF Avro ShackletonAvro ShackletonThe Avro Shackleton was a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft for use by the Royal Air Force. It was developed by Avro from the Avro Lincoln bomber with a new fuselage...
, built locally at Chadderton and Woodford - A Supermarine SpitfireSupermarine SpitfireThe Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
- A Hawker HunterHawker HunterThe Hawker Hunter is a subsonic British jet aircraft developed in the 1950s. The single-seat Hunter entered service as a manoeuvrable fighter aircraft, and later operated in fighter-bomber and reconnaissance roles in numerous conflicts. Two-seat variants remained in use for training and secondary...
Computing:
- A replica of the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine
Locomotives:
- Erricson's NoveltyNovelty (locomotive)Novelty was an early steam locomotive built by John Ericsson and John Braithwaite to take part in the Rainhill Trials in 1829.It was an 0-2-2WT locomotive and is now regarded as the very first tank engine. It had a unique design of boiler and a number of other novel design features...
- A replica incorporating parts from the original locomotive of 1829. - British Rail Class 77British Rail Class 77The British Rail Class 77, also known as Class EM2, is a class of 1.5 kV DC, Co-Co electric locomotive. They were built by Metropolitan-Vickers in 1953–1954 for use over the Woodhead Line between Manchester and Sheffield.-Description:...
No. 27001 'Ariadne' - A 1.5 kV DC electric locomotiveElectric locomotiveAn electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...
built by Metropolitan-VickersMetropolitan-VickersMetropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, they were particularly well known for their industrial electrical equipment such as generators, steam...
in 1953. - South African Railways GL class GarrattSouth African Railways GL class GarrattDuring 1929 and 1930 the South African Railways placed eight Class GL Garratt articulated steam locomotives with a 4-8-2+2-8-4 "Double Mountain" wheel arrangement in service. Constructed at Beyer, Peacock and Company's Gorton Foundry, they were originally designed to work on the Durban to Cato...
No. 2352 - Built in 1929 by Beyer, Peacock and CompanyBeyer, Peacock and CompanyBeyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway Locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Gorton, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer and Richard Peacock, it traded from 1854 until 1966...
, Manchester. - Pakistan Railways 4-4-0 - A broad gauge locomotive built by Beyer, Peacock and Company.
A Connected Earth
Connected Earth
Connected Earth is a UK network of organisations, primarily museums, that preserve the history of telecommunications in the UK. Heritage artefacts are physically dispersed to Connected Earth partners and other institutions as appropriate, and are brought together again online through virtual...
gallery that tells the history of communications in Manchester and the North West of England opened in October 2007.
Past exhibits include:
- Body WorldsBody WorldsBody Worlds is a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies and body parts that are prepared using a technique called plastination to reveal inner anatomical structures...
4 between 22 February and 29 June 2008 - LMR 57 LionLMR 57 LionThe Liverpool and Manchester Railway 57 Lion is an early 0-4-2 steam locomotive. One of a pair designed for hauling freight , built by Todd, Kitson & Laird of Leeds in 1838.-History:...
Britain's oldest steamable locomotive
The Railway
On selected dates visitors may ride on demonstration passenger trains within the museum grounds. Trains are hauled by the museum's two operational steam locomotives:- 'Planet' - A replica of Robert Stephenson and Company'sRobert Stephenson and CompanyRobert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823. It was the first company set up specifically to build railway engines.- Foundation and early success :...
PlanetPlanet (locomotive)Planet was an early steam locomotive built in 1830 by Robert Stephenson and Company for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The ninth locomotive built for the L&MR, it was Stephenson's next major design change after the Rocket. It was the first locomotive to employ inside cylinders, and...
class locomotive, built by the Friends of the Museum and Science and Industry in 1992. The original locomotive was constructed in 1830 and hauled trains on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. - 'Agecroft No. 1' - An 0-4-0 saddle tank built by Robert Stephenson and HawthornsRobert Stephenson and HawthornsRobert Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd was a locomotive builder with works in North East England.-History:The company was formed in September 1937 when Robert Stephenson and Company, which was based in Darlington took over the locomotive building department of Hawthorn Leslie and Company, based in...
in 1948 for use at Agecroft Power StationAgecroft Power StationAgecroft Power Station refers to three now demolished coal-fired power stations, which were situated between the eastern bank of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal and the western bank of the River Irwell at Agecroft, Pendlebury, near Manchester, North West England.-History:Agecroft Hall, an...
. Restored to working order in 2011.
The museum's railway line is connected to the national rail network near Ordsall Lane Junction.
External links
- Official Manchester Museum of Science and Industry Website
- Museum of Science and Industry Official facebook page
- Aero collection of Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester
- Entry in 24 Hour Museum24 Hour MuseumCulture24, originally the 24 Hour Museum, is a British charity which publishes two websites, Culture24 and Show Me, about visual culture and heritage in the United Kingdom, as well as supplying data and support services to other cultural websites including Engaging Places.It operates independently,...