Potteries Museum & Art Gallery

About the museum

The museum stands on Bethesda Street in Hanley, the heart of the Potteries, and opened on this site in 1956 as the Stoke-on-Trent City Museum and Art Gallery. A new building designed by Wood, Goldstraw and Yorath opened in 1981, and in 1982 the museum won the Museum of the Year award. It is run by Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

The collections reflect the story of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent. Their core is one of the world's finest collections of Staffordshire ceramics, from early slipware to the industrial output of Wedgwood, Spode, Minton and other famous makers. Alongside these are fine and decorative art, costume, archaeology, natural science and the history of local people and industries.

Two objects have made the museum widely known beyond the region. A Supermarine Spitfire given by the RAF in 1972 recalls the aircraft designer Reginald Mitchell, who came from the Potteries; after a three-year restoration it returned to a new gallery in 2021. Since 2010 the museum has also shown pieces from the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest known find of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork, and in 2017 it unveiled the Leekfrith torcs, among the oldest pieces of Iron Age gold jewellery found in Britain.

The building is now being redeveloped, with a new entrance, a foyer café bar, improved public spaces and more open storage. The museum has been reopening in stages since March 2026.

Highlights

• Spitfire Gallery with a restored Second World War fighter aircraft
• Large collection of Staffordshire ceramics
• Staffordshire Hoard pieces and the Leekfrith torcs (galleries currently closed during building works)
• Local history, archaeology and natural science displays

Permanent exhibition

• Spitfire Gallery – A Supermarine Spitfire restored over three years is shown with the story of its designer, Reginald Mitchell, who came from the Potteries.

Operated by

Stoke-on-Trent City Council

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission is free.

Accessibility

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

Step-free site that is fully accessible for wheelchairs and pushchairs, with a passenger lift and wheelchairs available. Five Blue Badge bays are next to the Spitfire Gallery, reached via Warner Street behind the museum. Only guide dogs are admitted.

Kids & families

• Stroller-friendly
• Baby changing facilities

Baby changing facilities are available and the building is accessible for pushchairs.

Getting there & parking

By car from the M6 take junction 15 or 16 and follow the A500 and signs for the Cultural Quarter.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop
• Wi-Fi

Café with access through the entrance by the Spitfire Gallery and a gift shop in the foyer. Free public Wi-Fi is available (connect to the guest network and complete a registration page). A new café bar is planned for the foyer once the building works are finished.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.