MCC Museum

About the museum

The MCC Museum grew out of a collection begun in 1864, when members of Marylebone Cricket Club were invited to give items of interest to furnish the Pavilion at Lord's. It describes itself as one of the oldest sporting museums in the world and traces the history and development of cricket. Today it works towards museum Accreditation Standards and takes part in loans, community work and tours with national museums and schools.

Its best-known object is the Ashes urn, a small terracotta urn given to the English captain Ivo Bligh at Rupertswood near Melbourne on Christmas Eve 1882, after the "ashes" of English cricket had been mourned in a newspaper that summer. Bligh's widow Florence left it to MCC, and it has been kept at Lord's ever since, apart from loans to exhibitions in Australia in 2006 to 2007 and 2019 to 2020. The museum also shows other objects from the long history of the game.

Visitors normally reach the museum on a guided tour of Lord's Cricket Ground, which also includes the Long Room, the Pavilion and the Barclays Media Centre.

Highlights

• The Ashes urn, cricket's best-known artefact
• A History of Cricket in 50 Objects, from an early bat of the 1720s to the Women's Ashes trophy
• Guided tour through the Pavilion, Long Room and media centre
• Heritage Trail around the ground
• Lord's Sensory Tour for visitors with sight loss

Permanent exhibitions

• The Ashes urn and MCC Museum collection – Objects from the museum's collection, started in 1864, including the small terracotta Ashes urn given to Ivo Bligh in 1882.
• A History of Cricket in 50 Objects – Fifty objects, among them an early bat of the 1720s, the Barnato Trophy and the Women's Ashes trophy, trace cricket's growth from a rural pastime to a global sport.

Founded

1864

Operated by

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)

Admission & discounts

Prices are for the standard guided tour of Lord's (about 100 minutes), which includes the museum. The Lord's Sensory Tour for visitors with sight loss and their carers is free; register by email or phone.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: no information
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Lord's welcomes assistance dogs. The Lord's Sensory Tour (90 minutes, free) uses touch, sound and storytelling for visitors with sight loss and their carers. Passenger lifts serve all levels of the Pavilion, and the ground has an accessibility guide on AccessAble; the pages do not give museum-specific access details, so questions can go to accessibility.tickets@mcc.org.uk. For step-free travel by Underground, MCC suggests buses from Kilburn or Golders Green.

Kids & families

Children aged 5 to 15 pay a reduced tour price and under 5s are free. The Tour Plus is for ages 12 and over.

Getting there & parking

MCC asks visitors not to travel to Lord's by car unless they need to for access reasons. Bike racks are outside the ground and several cycle hire docking stations are within five minutes' walk.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

The HOAM Coffee Shop is in the Vitality Performance Centre, and Lord's Tavern is also listed on the visitor pages. The Lord's Store sells clothing, gifts and souvenirs.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit