Photo: Oxyman · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Ipswich Museum

Grade II* listed Victorian museum in Ipswich, known for its natural history, Egyptian and local history collections; closed for redevelopment until 2027.

Temporarily closed

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Ipswich MuseumTemporarily closed

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Temporarily closed (expected until 2027). The building is closed during a major redevelopment and restoration and is due to reopen in 2027. Museum events take place at Christchurch Mansion in the meantime.

About the museum

Ipswich Museum opened on 15 December 1847 in Museum Street, in a building designed by the local architect Christopher Fleury. Money ran short in the early 1850s, and in 1853 local ratepayers voted to support it from the rates, which made it one of the first museums in the country funded in this way. It reopened in June 1853 with free admission.

When the lease on the first building ended, a purpose-built museum opened on High Street on 27 July 1881. A link to the Fine Art Club's picture gallery and the free lending library followed in 1887, and a West Wing on St George's Street was added in 1901. The Victorian natural history displays, including a rhinoceros that arrived in 1907 and a giraffe from 1909, were kept in the central atrium, and the Ogilvie bird collection was added in 1918.

The museum is also known for its geology and insect collections, archaeology from Ipswich and Suffolk, and an Egyptian Gallery installed between 2008 and 2010. The collection now holds more than 200,000 objects. The building is closed while it is restored and the galleries are redisplayed, with more of the stored collection planned for show, and it is due to reopen in 2027. Events are meanwhile held at Christchurch Mansion.