Liverpool World Museum

A brief history of Liverpool World Museum

The oldest museum in Liverpool, the World Museum started life in 1851 as the Derby Museum – named after the 13^th Earl of Derby's natural history collection which was housed inside.

The attraction proved to be so enormously popular that it quickly outgrew its original 2-room address on Duke Street, and in 1901 was rehoused in a purpose-built venue in its current home on William Brown Street.

Today's World Museum does a marvellous job showcasing all manner of mind-expanding material from every corner of the globe – as well as across space and time.

What are the highlights at Liverpool World Museum?

With so much to explore, it can be a little bewildering knowing where to start, and, naturally, a lot will depend on personal preference. But it's difficult to imagine even the most demanding of minds being unable to find more than a few riveting things to see or do here.

Highlights at Liverpool World Museum include an award-winning array of strange and unusual artefacts from throughout the natural world, including a woolly mammoth's tooth, tropical butterflies, and specimens of some of the planet's most spectacular animals.

Travelling back through the ages into the Ancient Egypt gallery, intrepid explorers can journey back 5,000 years through time to the legendary land of the pharaohs – thanks to a rather exceptional collection of centuries-old Egyptian artefacts. An undoubted – and rather creepy – highlight here is the mysterious Mummy Room, which vividly brings to life the mythical rituals associated with the ancient Egyptian's belief in the afterlife.

What else can I see at Liverpool World Museum?

Elsewhere in the museum, you can learn about tropical sea life in the museum's delightful aquarium. It’s home to scores of beautifully colourful fish and marine creatures, including rays, jellyfish, clownfish, and the ever-loveable seahorses.

Blasting us off into the (virtual) outer reaches, the full-dome planetarium utilises cutting-edge video technology to transport would-be astronauts deep into space, exploring enigmatic planets before offering front row seats to witness the birth of the sun and then setting off on a mission to hunt for alien life.

If this starry-eyed show leaves you feeling disoriented and in need of a down-to-earth timeout, it might be sensible to next head to The Weston Discovery Centre, which boasts a wonderful assembly of interactive exhibits designed to appeal to a wide range of interests and age groups. Here, you can try on dazzling indigenous face masks, have a go at playing exotic musical instruments, or even try on an authentic Viking outfit for size.

The World Cultures exhibit is another absorbing collection. Harking back to Liverpool's status as a key port of the former British Empire, the room features over 40,000 objects which were acquired by local merchants, missionaries, naval officers, and explorers and later donated or sold to the museum to be exhibited.

There's a strong emphasis on West Africa, East Asia, the Americas, the Amazon, New Zealand and New Guinea, which again reflects the UK's colonial past and its enduring impact on the city of Liverpool.