The Collection Museum & Usher Art Gallery

The Collection is actually two museums in one. It consists of Lincoln’s award-winning archaeology museum and the city’s art gallery, the Usher Gallery.

If you thought that archaeology was boring then think again!

The Collection is a very modern museum with lots of fantastic exhibitions and interactive displays to entertain the whole family.

It is a great place to bring the kids – not only are many of the displays interactive, there is also a dedicated play area complete with dressing up clothes, toys, crafts and books.

(Please note that this play area is unsupervised and children should not be left unaccompanied)

For older children there are lots of computer interactive displays, mosaic making, trails and games.

The cafe, Stokes at The Collection, serves a wide selection of delicious food and drink and is certainly well worth a visit! For a full list of menus, please click here: Stokes at The Collection

The Archaeology Gallery

In the Archaeology Gallery, you will learn about Lincolnshire’s long and fascinating heritage from the Stone Age to the present day.

There are lots of locally-found superb artefacts on display, including:

• a dinosaur known as the Lincoln Plesiosaur dating back over 180 million years!
• Bronze Age gold.
• an Iron Age long boat, which was sunk deliberately as an offering to the gods.
• the tombstone of a Roman Soldier, Gaius Valerius, who was a Standard Bearer with the 9th Legion. Lincoln, or Lindum Colonia, as it was know in Roman times, was a very important Roman city.
• Weapons and armour from the Civil War.As well as these fascinating displays, the Archaeology Gallery also has plenty of great hands-on activities, touch-screen games and even the chance to wear period clothing.

What’s on at The Collection

For a full list of events and exhibitions at The Collection, please click here: Events & Exhibitions at The Collection

The Usher Gallery

The Usher Gallery opened in 1927 to house local jeweller, James Usher’s, large collection of watches, silver. porcelain and miniatures. It soon became Lincolnshire’s most prestigious art gallery.

In 2010, the Usher Gallery was completely revamped and is now a worthy venue for some fantastic works of art.

The Usher Gallery has a wonderful collection of fine art and contemporary paintings by famous artists including: Turner, Lowry, DeWint, Carmichael, Ivon Hutchins and Vanessa Bell.

There are sculptures by Henry Moore, Joseph Nollekens and John Bacon.

The Usher Gallery is also home to an impressive array of porcelain, ceramics, glass. silver, enamelware and jewellery – dating from the 18th century up to the present day (check out the vases by Grayson Perry!)

James Usher’s personal collection of the most beautiful watches and clocks are to be found dotted throughout the galleries.

As well as these permanent displays, The Usher Gallery has an exciting programme of temporary exhibitions supported by the Arts Council.

To see the full calendar of events at the Usher Gallery,  please click here: The Usher Gallery Exhibitions and Events