The Manchester Museum is unique among English university museums with worldwide collections encompass both the natural sciences and the humanities. These include botany, zoology, geology, antiquities, ethnography, archery and numismatics and number over five million specimens and artefacts, all of which have been Designated.

The Museum is housed in a range of handsome Gothic revival buildings dating from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, with a superb extension, funded largely by the Heritage Lottery Fund, European Regional Development Fund, Wellcome Trust and the Wolfson Foundation between 1999 and 2003.

In addition to its permanent displays the Museum has a changing programme of special exhibitions and public programmes ranging from family activities to academic lectures. For schools and colleges, the Education Service offers an extensive programme of hands-on sessions providing access to real artefacts and specimens for all ages. The Museum also works closely with many of the communities in Manchester.