Our collections

Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives collection comprises over 1.75 million objects spanning the history of the world's cultures. Collections include:

Fine art, Eastern art, applied art, archaeology, ethnography, foreign archaeology, Egyptology, geology, natural history, social history, industrial and maritime history.

View the collections online.

The collections are stored and displayed across the main museum sites, and cared for by a team of curatorial and conservation staff. Some of the collections are of such national importance that they have helped to earn the service ‘Designated’ status by the Government, the mark of an outstanding museum, including the holdings of minerals, rocks and fossils, Eastern art, and the collections relating to the history and growth of the city. These collections were begun as early as 1823, with the opening of a museum by the Bristol Institution and were added to by subsequent generations who have helped to make Bristol’s collections some of the finest in the region.

Much of the collections are stored behind the scenes at M Shed, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery and Blaise Castle House Museum and can be viewed by:

• making an appointment with the appropriate collections officer or
• look out for our public store-tours.

See individual collections on the right hand side of the page and find out more about our incredible world-class, national and regional objects we look after for the city, our stores and any new acquisitions.