World Museum Liverpool
Encyclopedia
World Museum is a large museum
in Liverpool
, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a free Planetarium. Entry to the museum itself is also free. The museum is part of National Museums Liverpool
.
The museum has recently undergone extensive refurbishment in order to double the size of the display spaces, making even more of the collections accessible for visitors. Major new galleries include World Cultures, the Bug House and the Weston Discovery Centre. A central entrance hall and six-storey atrium opened in 2005. On reopening after this refurbishment and extension the museum's name changed from its previous title of Liverpool Museum, which it had held since its establishment at its current William Brown Street
site in 1860.
The museum was originally started as the Derby Museum as it comprised the Earl of Derby
's natural history
collection. The museum opened originally in 1851, sharing two rooms on Duke Street with a library. However, the museum proved extremely popular and a new, purpose-built building was required.
Land for the new building on a street then known as Shaw's Brow opposite St. George's Hall was donated by local MP
and Merchant William Brown
, as was much of the funding for the building which would be known as the William Brown Library and Museum
. Around 400,000 people attended the opening of the new building in 1860.
In the late 19th century, the museum's collection was beginning to outgrow its building so a competition was launched to design a combined extension to the museum and college of technology. The competition was won by William Mountford and the College of Technology and Museum Extension
opened in 1901.
Liverpool, being one of the UK's major ports, was heavily damaged by German bombing during the blitz
. While much of the Museum's collection was moved to less vulnerable locations during the war, the museum building itself was struck by German firebombs and suffered heavy damage. Parts of the museum only began to reopen fifteen years later.
In the early first decade of the 21st century, the museum was again expanded, taking over the lower half of the extension which was then owned by Liverpool John Moores University
. To better reflect its larger size, the museum was renamed World Museum Liverpool.
and the Prescot Museum. The collection also contains several significant collections from the Liverpool Royal Institution, Bidston Observatory, later the Proudman Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, and the Physics Department of the University of Liverpool.
Collections such as these are often made up of items of a singular type designed for a particular experiment such as DELPHI or LEP at CERN - the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, or the Equatorium, a post-Copernican planetary calculator made to special order in the early 17th century. As a consequence the collection is small but contains a number of significant items.
The planetarium opened in 1970 and has 62 seats. It currently attracts about 90,000 people per year. Shows cover various aspects of space science, including the Solar System, space exploration and has special children's shows. Entrance to the planetarium is free.
collection contains approximately 15,000 objects from Egypt
and Sudan
and is the most important single component of the Antiquities department's collections. The chronological range of the collection spans from the Prehistoric to the Islamic Period with the largest archaeological site collections being Abydos
, Amarna
, Beni Hasan
, Esna
and Meroe
.
Over 5000 Egyptian antiquities were donated to the museum in 1867 by Joseph Mayer(1803–1886), a local goldsmith and antiquarian. Mayer purchased collections from Joseph Sams of Darlington (which contained material from the Henry Salt
sale in 1835), Lord Valentia, Bram Hertz and the Reverend Henry Stobart. Mayer had displayed his collection in his own ‘Egyptian Museum’ in Liverpool with a purpose of giving citizens who were unable to visit the British Museum in London some idea of the achievements of the Egyptian civilization. On the strength of this substantial donation other people began to donate Egyptian material to the museum, and by the later years of the 19th century the museum had a substantial collection that Amelia Edwards
described as being the most important collection of Egyptian antiquities in England next to the contents of the British Museum
.
The quality of the Mayer donation is high and there are some outstanding items, but with a few exceptions the entire collection is unprovenanced. The collection was systematically enhanced through subscription to excavations in Egypt. Altogether the museum subscribed to 25 excavations carried out by the Egypt Exploration Fund (now Egypt Exploration Society), the British School of Archaeology in Egypt, and the Egyptian Research Account between 1884 and 1914. It was further developed through links with the Institute of Archaeology at Liverpool University and important collections came to the museum from the excavations of John Garstang
who was honorary reader in Egyptian archaeology at Liverpool University 1902–07, and Professor of Methods and Practice of Archaeology 1907–41. The museum has always had a close relationship with the university; in the early 1920s Percy Newberry
, Brunner Professor of Egyptology, and his successor T. Eric Peet, catalogued the collection, assisted with the rearrangement of the displays, and produced a handbook and guide to the Egyptian collection (1st ed., 1923).
In May 1941, at the height of the Liverpool Blitz
, a bomb fell on the museum, which was burnt to a shell. Large parts of the collection had been removed at the outbreak of the war, but much remained on display or in store and many artefacts were destroyed. What remained was quite inaccessible and it was not until 1976 that a permanent Egypt gallery was opened in the rebuilt museum. Following the war the museum actively augmented the collection through collecting of new material from excavations in Egypt and Sudan and the purchase of other museum collections. In 1947 and 1949 the material from Garstang’s excavations at Meroe came to the museum, and in 1955 Liverpool University placed substantial amounts from its own collections within the museum, including many items from Beni Hasan and Abydos. In 1956 the museum purchased almost the entire non-British collections of the Norwich Castle Museum. This included EES excavated material from Amarna and other sites, botanical remains from Kahun and the private collection of Sir Henry Rider-Haggard. In 1973 the collection was increased further by the acquisition of part of the Sir Henry Wellcome Collection, and by the bequest of Colonel J. R. Danson in 1976, which included more material from Amarna and from Garstang’s excavations at Abydos.
A handy lavishly illustrated guide to the collection is available: ‘Gifts of the Nile’ (London: HMSO, 1995).
Following a successful application to the Museums & Galleries Improvement Fund http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/Museums_galleries/wolfson.htm of the DCMS
and the Wolfson Foundation
the museum will be opening a new Egypt gallery in August 2008. The project with a total budget of £600,000 aims to build on the success of the hugely popular World Museum by revitalising the Egyptian gallery, which is now 30 years old.
collection at World Museum ranks among the top six collections in the country. The four main areas represented are: Africa, the Americas, Oceania and Asia. The exhibition includes interactive displays.
The 13th Earl of Derby founded the original museum with a major donation of zoological specimens in 1851, including many rare and 'type' specimens, the ones that act as standards for the species. There also specimens of several extinct species housed in the museum, including the Liverpool Pigeon
, the Great Auk
(and an egg), the Falkland Islands Wolf, the South Island Piopio
, the Lord Howe Swamphen
, the Dodo
, the Long-tailed Hopping Mouse
, and the Thylacine
. Another attraction in the Natural world area is an art gallery with pictures of natural artist Edward Lear
.
The museum’s collections have grown considerably since then and now also include important botanical specimens dating back over 200 years, which represent most of Britain and Ireland’s native flora. Visitors can examine the collections up close in the award winning Clore Natural History Centre, where there are interactive displays.
Founded in 1858, only seven years after the museum's establishment, much of the original collection was destroyed during the Second World War. The post-war collections have expanded considerably, thanks in part to the acquisition of several significant museum and university collections.
The largest of these was the University of Liverpool
's geological collection that includes some 6,600 fossil
specimens. The collection covers the following areas: palaeontology, rocks and
minerals.
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...
in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a free Planetarium. Entry to the museum itself is also free. The museum is part of National Museums Liverpool
National Museums Liverpool
National Museums Liverpool, previously known as National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, comprises several museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool, England. All museums and galleries in this group have free admission...
.
The museum has recently undergone extensive refurbishment in order to double the size of the display spaces, making even more of the collections accessible for visitors. Major new galleries include World Cultures, the Bug House and the Weston Discovery Centre. A central entrance hall and six-storey atrium opened in 2005. On reopening after this refurbishment and extension the museum's name changed from its previous title of Liverpool Museum, which it had held since its establishment at its current William Brown Street
William Brown Street
William Brown Street in Liverpool, England is a road that is remarkable for its concentration of public buildings. It is sometimes referred to as the "Cultural Quarter"...
site in 1860.
Establishment and development
Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the end of the reign of Henry III and died in 1279...
's natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
collection. The museum opened originally in 1851, sharing two rooms on Duke Street with a library. However, the museum proved extremely popular and a new, purpose-built building was required.
Land for the new building on a street then known as Shaw's Brow opposite St. George's Hall was donated by local MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
and Merchant William Brown
Sir William Brown, 1st Baronet, of Astrop
Sir William Brown, 1st Baronet was a British merchant and banker, founder of the banking-house of Brown, Shipley & Co...
, as was much of the funding for the building which would be known as the William Brown Library and Museum
William Brown Library and Museum
The William Brown Library and Museum is a Grade II* listed building situated on the historic William Brown Street in Liverpool, England. The building currently houses part of the World Museum Liverpool and Liverpool Central Library....
. Around 400,000 people attended the opening of the new building in 1860.
In the late 19th century, the museum's collection was beginning to outgrow its building so a competition was launched to design a combined extension to the museum and college of technology. The competition was won by William Mountford and the College of Technology and Museum Extension
College of Technology and Museum Extension
The College of Technology and Museum Extension Byrom Street, Liverpool, England was built between 1896 and 1901, the architect was Edward William Mountford. The building was constructed to provide a new College of Technology and an extension to the museum...
opened in 1901.
Liverpool, being one of the UK's major ports, was heavily damaged by German bombing during the blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
. While much of the Museum's collection was moved to less vulnerable locations during the war, the museum building itself was struck by German firebombs and suffered heavy damage. Parts of the museum only began to reopen fifteen years later.
In the early first decade of the 21st century, the museum was again expanded, taking over the lower half of the extension which was then owned by Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool John Moores University is a British 'modern' university located in the city of Liverpool, England. The university is named after John Moores and was previously called Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts and later Liverpool Polytechnic before gaining university status in 1992, thus...
. To better reflect its larger size, the museum was renamed World Museum Liverpool.
Deaths
The museum has been the site of three deaths since its 2005 reopening. On the 15 May 2006, a 24 year old man climbed over a balcony on the sixth floor and jumped to his death. On the 26 November 2006, a 17 year old mother was stabbed to death by her 21 year old former male partner, who then jumped to his death from a third floor balcony. The coroner has since recorded verdicts of unlawful killing and suicide.Astronomy, Space and Time
The physical sciences collection of World Museum was built after the devastation caused by the incendiary fire of 1941. The collection has expanded, in part, due to transfers from the Decorative Arts Department, Regional History Department, Walker Art GalleryWalker Art Gallery
The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England, outside of London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group, and is promoted as "the National Gallery of the North" because it is not a local or regional gallery but is part...
and the Prescot Museum. The collection also contains several significant collections from the Liverpool Royal Institution, Bidston Observatory, later the Proudman Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, and the Physics Department of the University of Liverpool.
Collections such as these are often made up of items of a singular type designed for a particular experiment such as DELPHI or LEP at CERN - the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, or the Equatorium, a post-Copernican planetary calculator made to special order in the early 17th century. As a consequence the collection is small but contains a number of significant items.
The planetarium opened in 1970 and has 62 seats. It currently attracts about 90,000 people per year. Shows cover various aspects of space science, including the Solar System, space exploration and has special children's shows. Entrance to the planetarium is free.
Human History
Archaeology and Egyptology
The EgyptologyEgyptology
Egyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...
collection contains approximately 15,000 objects from Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
and is the most important single component of the Antiquities department's collections. The chronological range of the collection spans from the Prehistoric to the Islamic Period with the largest archaeological site collections being Abydos
Abydos, Egypt
Abydos is one of the most ancient cities of Upper Egypt, and also of the eight Upper Nome, of which it was the capital city. It is located about 11 kilometres west of the Nile at latitude 26° 10' N, near the modern Egyptian towns of el-'Araba el Madfuna and al-Balyana...
, Amarna
Amarna
Amarna is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly–established and built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty , and abandoned shortly afterwards...
, Beni Hasan
Beni Hasan
Beni Hasan is an Ancient Egyptian cemetery site. It is located approximately 20 kilometers to the south of modern-day Minya in the region known as Middle Egypt, the area between Asyut and Memphis.While there are some Old Kingdom burials at the site, it was primarily used during the Middle...
, Esna
Esna
Esna , known to the ancient Egyptians as Egyptian: Iunyt or Ta-senet; Greek: or or ; Latin: Lato, is a city in Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the River Nile, some 55 km south of Luxor...
and Meroe
Meroë
Meroë Meroitic: Medewi or Bedewi; Arabic: and Meruwi) is an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah...
.
Over 5000 Egyptian antiquities were donated to the museum in 1867 by Joseph Mayer(1803–1886), a local goldsmith and antiquarian. Mayer purchased collections from Joseph Sams of Darlington (which contained material from the Henry Salt
Henry Salt (Egyptologist)
Henry Salt was an English artist, traveller, diplomat, and Egyptologist.-Biography:Salt, the son of a physician, was born in Lichfield. He trained as a portrait painter, first in Lichfield and then in London under Joseph Farington and John Hoppner. In 1802 he was appointed secretary and...
sale in 1835), Lord Valentia, Bram Hertz and the Reverend Henry Stobart. Mayer had displayed his collection in his own ‘Egyptian Museum’ in Liverpool with a purpose of giving citizens who were unable to visit the British Museum in London some idea of the achievements of the Egyptian civilization. On the strength of this substantial donation other people began to donate Egyptian material to the museum, and by the later years of the 19th century the museum had a substantial collection that Amelia Edwards
Amelia Edwards
Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards was an English novelist, journalist, traveller and Egyptologist.Born in London to an Irish mother and a father who had been a British Army officer before becoming a banker, Edwards was educated at home by her mother, showing considerable promise as a writer at a young age...
described as being the most important collection of Egyptian antiquities in England next to the contents of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
.
The quality of the Mayer donation is high and there are some outstanding items, but with a few exceptions the entire collection is unprovenanced. The collection was systematically enhanced through subscription to excavations in Egypt. Altogether the museum subscribed to 25 excavations carried out by the Egypt Exploration Fund (now Egypt Exploration Society), the British School of Archaeology in Egypt, and the Egyptian Research Account between 1884 and 1914. It was further developed through links with the Institute of Archaeology at Liverpool University and important collections came to the museum from the excavations of John Garstang
John Garstang
John Garstang was a British archaeologist of the ancient Near East, especially Anatolia and the southern Levant....
who was honorary reader in Egyptian archaeology at Liverpool University 1902–07, and Professor of Methods and Practice of Archaeology 1907–41. The museum has always had a close relationship with the university; in the early 1920s Percy Newberry
Percy Newberry
Percy Edward Newberry was a British Egyptologist.-Early life:Newberry was born in Islington, London in 1869. His mother was named Caroline Wyatt, and his father, Henry James Newberry, was a woollen warehouseman. Newberry developed a strong attachment to botany in childhood and was also an...
, Brunner Professor of Egyptology, and his successor T. Eric Peet, catalogued the collection, assisted with the rearrangement of the displays, and produced a handbook and guide to the Egyptian collection (1st ed., 1923).
In May 1941, at the height of the Liverpool Blitz
Liverpool Blitz
The Liverpool Blitz was the heavy and sustained bombing of the British city of Liverpool and its surrounding area, at the time mostly within the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire but commonly known as Merseyside, during the Second World War by the German Luftwaffe.Liverpool, Bootle, and the...
, a bomb fell on the museum, which was burnt to a shell. Large parts of the collection had been removed at the outbreak of the war, but much remained on display or in store and many artefacts were destroyed. What remained was quite inaccessible and it was not until 1976 that a permanent Egypt gallery was opened in the rebuilt museum. Following the war the museum actively augmented the collection through collecting of new material from excavations in Egypt and Sudan and the purchase of other museum collections. In 1947 and 1949 the material from Garstang’s excavations at Meroe came to the museum, and in 1955 Liverpool University placed substantial amounts from its own collections within the museum, including many items from Beni Hasan and Abydos. In 1956 the museum purchased almost the entire non-British collections of the Norwich Castle Museum. This included EES excavated material from Amarna and other sites, botanical remains from Kahun and the private collection of Sir Henry Rider-Haggard. In 1973 the collection was increased further by the acquisition of part of the Sir Henry Wellcome Collection, and by the bequest of Colonel J. R. Danson in 1976, which included more material from Amarna and from Garstang’s excavations at Abydos.
A handy lavishly illustrated guide to the collection is available: ‘Gifts of the Nile’ (London: HMSO, 1995).
Following a successful application to the Museums & Galleries Improvement Fund http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/Museums_galleries/wolfson.htm of the DCMS
DCMS
DCMS as an acronym may refer to:*Department for Culture, Media and Sport, a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England*Deccan College of Medical Sciences, a medical college in Hyderabad, India...
and the Wolfson Foundation
Wolfson Foundation
The Wolfson Foundation is a charity that awards grants to support excellence in the fields of science and medicine, health, education and the arts & humanities.- Overview :...
the museum will be opening a new Egypt gallery in August 2008. The project with a total budget of £600,000 aims to build on the success of the hugely popular World Museum by revitalising the Egyptian gallery, which is now 30 years old.
Ethnology
The ethnologyEthnology
Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
collection at World Museum ranks among the top six collections in the country. The four main areas represented are: Africa, the Americas, Oceania and Asia. The exhibition includes interactive displays.
Biology and Zoology
In the Natural World area can be seen a range of exhibits, including live colonies of insects and historic zoological and botanical exhibits.The 13th Earl of Derby founded the original museum with a major donation of zoological specimens in 1851, including many rare and 'type' specimens, the ones that act as standards for the species. There also specimens of several extinct species housed in the museum, including the Liverpool Pigeon
Liverpool Pigeon
The Liverpool Pigeon or Spotted Green Pigeon is a presumed extinct pigeon species from an unknown provenance.-Description:...
, the Great Auk
Great Auk
The Great Auk, Pinguinus impennis, formerly of the genus Alca, was a large, flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus, a group of birds that formerly included one other species of flightless giant auk from the Atlantic Ocean...
(and an egg), the Falkland Islands Wolf, the South Island Piopio
South Island Piopio
The South Island Piopio, Turnagra capensis, also known as the New Zealand Thrush, was a passerine bird of the Turnagridae family, found only in New Zealand.-Taxonomy:...
, the Lord Howe Swamphen
Lord Howe Swamphen
The Lord Howe Swamphen or White Gallinule, Porphyrio albus, was a large bird in the family Rallidae endemic to Lord Howe Island, Australia. It was similar to the Purple Swamphen, but with shorter and more robust legs and toes. Its plumage was white, sometimes with a few blue feathers, and it was...
, the Dodo
Dodo
The dodo was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about , living on fruit, and nesting on the ground....
, the Long-tailed Hopping Mouse
Long-tailed Hopping Mouse
The long-tailed hopping mouse is an extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae. It was found only in Australia. It is known from a handful of specimens, the last of which was collected in 1901 or possibly 1902...
, and the Thylacine
Thylacine
The thylacine or ,also ;binomial name: Thylacinus cynocephalus, Greek for "dog-headed pouched one") was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. It is commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger or the Tasmanian wolf...
. Another attraction in the Natural world area is an art gallery with pictures of natural artist Edward Lear
Edward Lear
Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, author, and poet, renowned today primarily for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his limericks, a form that he popularised.-Biography:...
.
The museum’s collections have grown considerably since then and now also include important botanical specimens dating back over 200 years, which represent most of Britain and Ireland’s native flora. Visitors can examine the collections up close in the award winning Clore Natural History Centre, where there are interactive displays.
Geology
The geological collection at World Museum contains over 40,000 fossils as well as extensive rock and mineral collections. Each of these exhibits show information about the origins, structure and history of the planet Earth.Founded in 1858, only seven years after the museum's establishment, much of the original collection was destroyed during the Second World War. The post-war collections have expanded considerably, thanks in part to the acquisition of several significant museum and university collections.
The largest of these was the University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
's geological collection that includes some 6,600 fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
specimens. The collection covers the following areas: palaeontology, rocks and
minerals.