Wisbech &Fenland Museum

Wisbech & Fenland Museum began as a literary and scientific society in 1835 and opened its purpose-built home on Museum Square in 1847, making it one of the oldest buildings in Britain designed specifically as a museum. It remains an independent charity, registered as charity number 311307, and holds collections spanning ethnography, natural history, geology, archaeology and decorative art. Among its holdings is the original manuscript of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and the travelling chest used by abolitionist Thomas Clarkson to carry African-made goods on his campaigns. The Victorian building and its display cases have changed little since the nineteenth century, preserving the taxonomy and layout of that period. The museum opens Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm, and admission buys a season ticket valid for a year.