Greater Manchester Police Museum & Archives

General information

‘Explore Manchester’s hidden past – a labyrinth of alleyways and slums, interrupted only by the huge mills casting shadows below. An eerie underworld where police officers were kept busy apprehending unsavoury characters of all ages.

The Greater Manchester Police Museum and Archives enables you to experience what life was really like for these officers in a busy Victorian police station.

You’ll also see how times have changed and how policing has evolved to meet today’s needs.
Located in the historic Northern Quarter of Manchester, the Museum was one of the cities earliest police stations and has been lovingly restored to reflect the reality of policing in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s.

See where Manchester’s criminals were charged and fingerprinted before being put into the cells, often packed with up to twelve men on a busy night! Why not take a seat on one of the cell beds with their wooden pillows.

Admire the polished wood panels and stained glass in the 1895 Magistrate’s Court and experience how inmates would have felt standing in the dock!