| Administrative History | The site of the Grosvenor Museum was acquired between 1883 and 1884 by the purchase of three adjoining properties by a joint Committee of the Chester and North Wales Archaeological Society, the Chester Society of Natural Science, Literature and Art, and the Chester School of Art with the first duke of Westminster as president. The building was designed by T.M. Lockwood of Chester, the foundation stone being laid by the duke in 1885 while the museum was formally opened to the public in 1886. Extensions involving the acquisition of adjoining property were made in 1894 and 1901. The museum was transferred to the Corporation in 1915, the two societies receiving tenancies.
An account of the building of the Grosvenor Museum and its early years is contained in J.D. Siddall, The Chester Society of Natural Science, Literature and Art from 1871 to 1911, Chester, 1911. |