Britain's top 15 most visited museums and galleries REVEALED

Britain's top 15 museums and galleries can now be revealed - but visitor numbers are declining.

The number of visitors to museums and galleries in the UK fell by nearly three million in the last year.


The latest figures from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport revealed that museums and galleries sponsored by the department were visited 2,984,053 fewer times in the 12 months up to August than the year before.


Unsurprisingly the top of the list is dominated by museums in London.

The British Museum is the most popular UK museum or gallery with the National Gallery in second place and the Tate Modern third.

The MoSI in Manchester and the Tate Liverpool are the only individual museums in the top 15 most visited in the country that are not based in London.


Despite attracting an impressive 46,349,811 visitors, the fall of more than six per cent was the sharpest seen since visits peaked at close to 50,000,000 in 2013/14.


The hardest hit was the Imperial War Museum in London, which saw visits fall by 26 per cent.

While the Tate in St. Ives, Cornwall saw visits drop by a staggering 70 per cent, this was due to it being closed to the public from October last year.


Meanwhile, some museums saw their visitor numbers rise - the National Railway Museum in Shildon, in the North East, saw attendance grow by 30 per cent.


TOP 15 MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES

1) British Museum

2) National Gallery

3) Tate Modern

4) Natural History Museum
5) Science Museum

6) V&A Museum

7) Royal Museums Greenwich

8) National Portrait Gallery

9) White Tower

10) Tate Britain

11) IWM London

12) Horniman Museum

13) Science National Railway

14) Science and Industry Manchester

15) Tate Liverpool