People's History Museum

The People's History Museum stands on Left Bank beside the River Irwell in Spinningfields, central Manchester, England, and is the national museum of democracy in the United Kingdom. It is housed in the former Edwardian Pump House, a hydraulic power station built in 1909, which was converted and expanded with a modern extension that opened in 2010 after a major redevelopment. The museum's collections trace the struggle for democracy and equality in Britain from the Peterloo Massacre of 1819 through the Chartists, the trade union movement, the cooperative movement, the women's suffrage campaign and later movements for civil rights, with a focus on ordinary people's role in political change. It holds the world's largest collection of political banners, along with badges, posters, pamphlets, photographs and personal objects, much of it from the national archive of the labour movement, now held with the Labour History Archive and Study Centre on site. The curatorial approach is broadly chronological in the main galleries, with thematic displays on topics such as work, voting and protest, and rotating exhibitions explore current debates and contemporary campaigns. Highlights include banners from trade unions and suffrage groups, items related to Peterloo, the Chartist petition material and objects from the Cooperative movement. The Victorian Pump House has been restored, with original features preserved, and the modern extension provides additional galleries, a cafe and a learning space. Interpretation is designed to be accessible, with text panels, interactive displays and films. The museum is a charity that offers free general admission, with donations encouraged, and it also runs school programmes and public events. It is a short walk from the Peterloo Memorial and the Free Trade Hall, so it works well as a core stop on a route through the history of Manchester's radical tradition and its influence on British politics.