Museums & Galleries · Cheshire
Special Collections Museum
📍 M1 5QS
Photo: MrFringilla (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
- Explore collections and archives held in the museum
- Over 700 historical cookery and household management books
- Rare portfolio of Japanese silk textile designs
- Harry Page Collection of scrapbooks and albums
- Reading Room and Learning Space for studying collections
The Special Collections Museum at Manchester Metropolitan University is a research and teaching collection offering hands-on access to its archives, including historical cookery books, rare textile portfolios and scrapbook ephemera. Its Reading Room and Learning Space continue the Manchester School of Art's tradition of object-based learning, and you can book an appointment to visit the Reading Room or arrange a group visit. It suits students, researchers and anyone interested in art, textile or social history, with photography permitted for personal study. Based in Manchester, it sits close to Manchester Oxford Road station, just 0.1 miles away, with 98 bookable places to stay within 5 miles if you're planning an overnight visit.
Practical details
- Booking
- Book a Reading Room appointment in advance
- Best for
- Students, researchers and object-based learning
From the attraction's own website on 14 Oct 2026 — check before you travel.
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Create a free account to claimPlaces to stay near Special Collections Museum
Make a proper break of it — these stays are all within 25 miles.
Maldron Hotel Manchester City Centre
✓ Shopping, nightlife, theatres and stadiums right at your doorstep
Manchester
Whitworth Locke, Civic Quarter
✓ Design-led studios and suites each with their own kitchen
Manchester
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🗓️ Make a break of it
Turn a visit to Special Collections Museum into a proper getaway — ready-made plans, and the drive worked out with fuel, EV charging and the best stops.
🚆 Or come by train
- Manchester Oxford Road 0.1 miles
- Deansgate 0.5 miles
- Manchester Piccadilly 0.5 miles
Straight-line distances · live departures on each station page