Wisbech and Fenland Museum

Wisbech and Fenland Museum

Serving Wisbech since 1847, this is one of the UK's oldest museums. Its original focus was on the natural history of the area, but its current collections are eclectic, a wide-ranging and in-depth exploration of subjects from local and social history to textiles to the slave trade to Egyptology.

One of the museum's prized possessions is the original manuscript of 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens. The manuscript was left to the museum in 1868. Because of its importance and fragility, the manuscript can only be viewed on the first Saturday of each month.

Another special exhibit traces the life of Thomas Clarkson, a pioneer in the fight to abolish slavery and a campaigner for human rights. The Egyptian collection is well worth a mention; the collection includes a mummified hand, mounted on a velvet cushion, and set inside a gilded frame.

There are displays of costumes and textiles, with items of dress as early as the 17th century. There is also a very large collection of ceramics, paintings, and decorative art from the Far East, as well as rare items of Staffordshire figures.

The museum is located a stone's throw from the medieval parish church of Wisbech.