Manchester has plenty of places shouting for your attention recently, from new Northern Quarter spots to café-bar-record shops. But this little museum is quite literally hiding underground. Beneath the Royal Northern College of Music on Oxford Road sits the RNCM Collection of Historic Musical Instruments, a museum packed with more than 300 instruments and musical curiosities. And unless you already knew it was there, there’s a decent chance you’ve walked straight past it.
You can trace centuries of instrument-making here, from the Italian Renaissance and Victorian England to later musical innovations from around the world. Among the highlights are keyboards by Broadwood, viols by Barak Norman and Collingwood, violins by Stradivarius and Guarnerius, plus wind instruments dating from the 18th and early 19th centuries.
And then things get a little stranger.
The collection brings together two historic groups of instruments originally assembled by Dr Henry Watson, alongside a smaller collection gathered by Josiah Thomas Chapman. But beyond the big names and beautifully made instruments, there are plenty of details that reward a closer look: a cast of Chopin’s hand, a pocket-sized violin and carved decorations featuring animals and people. There really is a tiny violin down there.
The Royal Northern College of Music: a perfect stop for arts-curious children
The RNCM Collection of Historic Musical Instruments offers an engaging stop for families, with a self-guided themed tour that invites children to explore instruments from different countries, spot animals and people carved into their surfaces, and sketch a favourite object. Digitised historic recordings of RNCM students add another way to experience the collection through sound.
Families can also look out for performances at the Royal Northern College of Music, including Ballet of Lights. This dance production reimagines classic fairy tales such as Sleeping Beauty through ballet, fibre-optic costumes and a compact, one-hour format.
13 September 2026 16:00 + more dates
About the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester
The Royal Northern College of Music is both a conservatoire and a live-music venue on Oxford Road. It was created through the merger of the Royal Manchester College of Music and the Northern School of Music, bringing together two institutions with deep roots in Manchester’s musical life.
Its heritage stretches back through the Royal Manchester College of Music, whose founding principal was conductor Sir Charles Hallé, and the Northern School of Music, founded by Hilda Collens. Today, the RNCM supports the development of performers, composers, conductors, educators and other music professionals.
As for finding the collection, head to the basement of the Library section of the College building, to the left of the main entrance on Booth Street West. You can get there via the staircase behind the Box Office or take the lift opposite the RNCM Library.
So next time you’re heading down Oxford Road, forget looking up for a minute. One of Manchester’s more unusual musical collections is waiting underneath your feet.
Address: Royal Northern College of Music, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9RD.
