Wisbech & Fenland Museum

Museum entrance.
Museum Square outside the front of the museum.

The Wisbech & Fenland Museum, located in the town of Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, England, is one of the oldest purpose-built museums in the United Kingdom.[1] [2] The Museum Society was founded in 1835 and the present building was opened in 1847.

The museum houses a number of important collections relating to local history and the anti-slavery campaigner Thomas Clarkson. Its star exhibit is the original manuscript of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, the bequest of Chauncy Hare Townshend.[3] Other notable artefacts include Napoleon's Sèvres breakfast service, said to have been captured at the Battle of Waterloo and Thomas Clarkson's chest, containing examples of 18th century African textiles, seeds and leatherwork which he used to illustrate his case for direct trade with Africa.

References

  1. ↑ Wisbech & Fenland Museum, Culture24, UK.
  2. ↑ Listing on Cornucopia, URL accessed 25 June 2008.
  3. ↑ Wisbech and Fenland Museum, Stride Guides.

External links

Coordinates: 52°39′50″N 0°09′40″E / 52.663857°N 0.160976°E