Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery

It was founded in 1835 as the Museum of the Shropshire and North Wales Natural History and Antiquarian Society Society in Dogpole in the centre of Shrewsbury. In 1853 all the collections were moved to Vaughan's Mansion on College Hill, and it then became known as the Shropshire and North Wales Museum. In 1877 it merged with the newly formed Shropshire Archaeological Society to become the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. That same year, the museum accepted an important collection of recently excavated finds from nearby Wroxeter. The museum celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1885 with the transfer of the museum and library to the recently vacated old Shrewsbury School building. At this time the museum was placed under the ownership of Shrewsbury Corporation and was then referred to as Shrewsbury Museum and Free Library. In 1931 'Rowley's House' was acquired by the Corporation of Shrewsbury for the specific purpose of housing archaeological material from the site of Viroconium Cornoviorum near Wroxeter. The building opened to the public seven years later and became known as the Roman Museum.

Local Government re-organisation in 1974 resulted in Shrewsbury Library and the old Shrewsbury School building being transferred to the ownership of Shropshire County Council. However, the Museum Collections were retained by the new Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council and moved to Rowley's House and other Borough Council buildings. In 1981 Rowley’s Mansion opened after its purchase and refurbishment to extend the Roman Museum, allowing it to house additional collections. Shropshire Council's Shropshire Museums manages the museum as part of a portfolio of seven sites across the county. In August 2019 the museum unveiled a new stained glass window created by local artist Nathalie Hildegarde Liege. The window was inspired by the museum’s rocks and minerals collection and the Margaret Agnes Rope exhibition in 2016.

The large art collection features artists mainly from Victorian and pre-Victorian times and many are unknown although component. Better-known 20th artists who have exhibited or have examples in the collection include R.O. Dunlop, Robert Medley and Ethel Walker.