Congleton Museum

General information

An ancient log boat, cannonballs from the civil war and the town stocks – just some of the things you can see at Congleton Museum.

The museum houses tableaux illustrating life in the town during prehistoric times, in the Civil War, in the heyday of the textile industry and during the Second World War. Figures from the past tell their stories, and interactive computers fill in the background. Relief maps show the changes over the centuries.

A prize exhibit is the Astbury log boat, which dates from the tenth century.

The Civil War was particularly significant to Congleton – a former mayor of the town, John Bradshaw, was first to sign Charles I’s death warrant. A cannonball from that time, still embedded in a piece of wall from Biddulph Hall, is in the museum.

There are frequent temporary exhibitions, often involving the work of local schools. History walks through the town take place on the last Sunday of the month, followed by a home made cream tea.