Oxford University Museums

The Ashmolean Museum was established in 1683 and is the oldest public museum in the world. It houses the university's highly impressive collections of art, archeology and antiquities, which pretty much span human history from across the world. The History of Science Museum has a wide-ranging collection of historic scientific instruments (over 10,000 objects), and it is housed in the world's oldest surviving purpose-built museum building, the Old Ashmolean on Broad Street. The Natural History Museum has been called a ‘cathedral to nature', and it does have a vast collection of items from the natural world, with exhibits ranging from rocks and stones to dinosaurs and the remains of the extinct Mauritius dodo. With over one million objects in its possession, the Pitt Rivers Museum, founded in 1884 by General Pitt Rivers, covers the field of human anthropology comprehensively. The displays of amulets, masks, beads, pots, tools and weapons are housed in a splendid Victorian building. For anyone interested in music, the Bate Collection is a treasure trove. It is England's most comprehensive collection of European woodwind, brass and percussion instruments and has 1,500 exhibits.