Museum

Set up in 2006, the Deaf Museum and Archive has grown into a credible national collection consisting of numerous artefacts, deaf artwork and paper archive collections of all kinds.

We have maintained and run the Museum entirely by volunteers of the British Deaf History Society, but the recent appointments of a curator and an archivist will take the museum into a new era. The Museum is working towards becoming an accredited specialist museum with the Arts Council which will hopefully open up wider audiences. We are truly the only museum in Britain that is specific to Deafness, Deaf communities and Deaf people.

We have been closed for 16 months since March 2020 due to COVID-19 Government restrictions but we have now reopened in Manchester Deaf Centre thanks to grants from the Department of Digital Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) Cultural Recovery Fund. The Research Library and the Deaf archives are now fully open and accessible if you make prior appointments. The Museum has held a series of trial openings in October and November. Full viewings and tours will be possible from February 2022 (See Events page). This is because some of our displays were damaged during the lockdown moves and are in the process of being repaired.

We will keep everyone updated as soon as possible but if you want to browse what is in the Deaf Museum below, you will see some of the artefacts and works of art available.