Museums

Resources

Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing

A museum dedicated to the craft of hand block printing, in Jaipur, India.

Brighton Museum and Art Gallery

Includes the Fashion and Style Gallery.

British Museum

Textiles from all over the world, including Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas and Oceania.

Chertsey Museum

Olive Matthews collection containing dress, textiles, beadwork purses, lace, embroidery and needlework accessories.

Crafts Study Centre

The Crafts Study Centre has a collection and archive of twentieth century British Crafts. It also has an on-going exhibition and events programme.

Embroiderers’ Guild

Large crafts organisation which offers appointments to visitors to see its collection.

Forge Mill Needle Museum and Bordesley Abbey Visitor Centre

Telling the fascinating story of the Victorian needle industry, Forge Mill has also become a regional centre for textile enthusiasts in Worcestershire with a varied and lively annual programme of temporary exhibitions and one day textile workshops.

Geffrye Museum

The Geffrye Museum explores the home from around 1600 to the present day, focusing on the living rooms of the urban middle classes in England, particularly London.

Hampshire Museums Service

We manage 18 museums across Hampshire, and advise many more. We are the lead museum for the South East hub. We have a large dress and textiles collection, held centrally in Winchester, displays across the county, and have a team of staff and volunteers available to show groups and individuals items in store.

Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston

The Harris has a Costume & Textile Collection which includes over 6,000 items of historic and contemporary clothing, textiles and fashion plates.Highlights include women’s wear from the 1800s, a complete set of Forbes Watson’s Textiles Manufactures of India (1866) and a collection of Horrockses Fashions dresses

Horniman Museum

Textiles from Africa, Asia, North America, The Pacific and the largest European folk art collection in the UK

Macclesfield Silk Museum

Macclesfield has several textile-related museums

Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture (MoDA)

Includes the Silver Studio Collection

Museum of London

Includes 20,500 items of costume and textiles, some pre-1700 and excavated material

Museum of Reading

Reading Museum Service aims to be a centre of excellence in providing opportunities for life-long learning through real objects and original documents

People History Museum

The Museum collection originates from the the Trade Union, Labour and Co-operative History Society. It includes one of the world’s largest collections of historic trade union and political banners and is the UK’s leading authority on the conservation and study of banners. Banners and other items from our textile collection relating to the theme of the museum are on display throughout the galleries

Pitt Rivers Museum

Textiles from Africa, North and South America, Japan and the Pacific Islands

Quilt Museum

The Quilt Museum and Gallery is Britain’s first museum dedicated to quiltmaking and textile arts. It is managed by The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles

Science Museum

Includes plastics, composite and smart materials as well as looms and sewing machines

Trowbridge Museum

Trowbridge Museum and Art Gallery tells the story of the once dominant, but now vanished West of England woollen cloth industry. It holds an extensive collection about the woollen cloth industry

International Textile Collection, Leeds University Library

The International Textile Collection is made up of several distinct collections of world textiles, with a strength in Asian textiles. It dates from Ancient Egyptian to the present day, with the greater part covering the 19th and early 20th centuries.

V&A Museum of Childhood

The V&A Museum of Childhood aims to encourage everyone to explore the themes of childhood past and present and develop an appreciation of creative design through our inspirational collections and programmes

Victoria and Albert Museum

Collection of over 5,000 textiles spanning 2,000 years on display in the galleries. Sample online some of the best textiles for historical research and reference. Use the Access to Images database to find images and information about textiles and dress in the collection