Harris Museum @ Preston City Centre.

The Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Preston Free Public Library is a Grade I listed museum building in Preston and has the largest gallery space in Lancashire.
In the 19th century, a Public Library boom hit the United Kingdom. The town of Preston wanted a grand museum and library for its inhabitants. Since 1850, locals had held fund-raising events to get enough money to build a museum and public library. In 1877, a Preston lawyer called Edmund Robert Harris, finally made the dream of Preston into a reality. He left instructions in his will with a sum of £300,000 to establish a trust that would provide funds to support the creation of several organisations in Preston including a library, museum and art gallery. The trust would work with Preston Council. In 1879, the first Preston lending library was set up in the Town Hall basement, while a public museum was set up on Cross Street, opening Ist May 1880. The popularity of this made the council decide to make a purpose built building to house the Public Library and Museum. Building work officially started on the museum in 1882 during the Preston Guild and it officially opened in 1893.