Museum of Wellington City & Sea

The Museum of Wellington City & Sea is a museum on Queens Wharf in Wellington, New Zealand. It occupies the 1892 Bond Store, an historic building on Jervois Quay on the waterfront of Wellington Harbour. It was recently voted as one of the top 50 Museums in the world voted by The Times, London.

The Museum has three floors about the history of Wellington. By The Sea We Live celebrates the city’s maritime history, while Te Whanganui-a-Tara looks at early Maori and European settlement. A twentieth century gallery explores how Wellington has changed over one hundred years. A giant cinema screen shows a series of films about Wellington. There are two theatre areas: one tells Maori myths using a 'Peppers Ghost', and the other is a memorial to the tragic sinking of the Wahine ferry in the Wellington harbour. An adjacent gallery holds the Plimmer’s Ark display, the remains of an 1848 sailing vessel uncovered during restoration of the Old Bank Arcade.

Hours and admission

The Museum is open every day (excluding Christmas Day). Museum hours are 10.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m. General admission is free (booking is essential for education and tour groups). There are free tours every Sunday at 2pm.

Background

The Museum started in 1972 as the Wellington Maritime Museum of the Wellington Harbour Board. In 1989 with the reorganisation of local bodies throughout New Zealand, the Museum was transferred to the Wellington City Council and expanded in scope to include social history of the region. The conversion of this building into the Museum of Wellington City & Sea was completed in 1999. It is run by the Museums Trust.^[1]

Building

For details of the building, see Wellington Harbour Board Head Office and Bond Store.

References

External links

• Museum website
• Launch of Sea Change policy at the museum, 2007

Coordinates: 41°17′07″S 174°46′41″E / 41.2853°S 174.7781°E / -41.2853; 174.7781