The Blind School: Pioneering people and places

About

The school was founded in 1791 by the blind abolitionist and human rights campaigner Edward Rushton, along with a number of his blind and sighted associates.

This exhibition explores what life was like for the pupils of the school over its 227 year history as well as the design and location of the different buildings that housed it. The exhibition features unique objects, spoken stories and a film made with visually impaired and blind students from St Vincent's School that challenges people’s attitudes towards blind people, past and present. This is one of three exhibitions curated by History , a national project run by Accentuate, which explores 800 years of disability history through eight different sites around the UK.

The Blind School: Pioneering people and places is an accessible exhibition, with audio description, Braille, British Sign Language interpretation, and multisensory features. 

Audio guide to the exhibition

You can listen to the audio guide as you go round the exhibition (use free wifi to download it to your phone or tablet) or listen at home.

After a short introduction giving orienteering for people at the museum – and to highlight particular objects – much of the story is told by actors. They revive voices from people over 200 years of history, from 18th century founders to pupils evacuated from Liverpool to Wales during the Second World War.