The wealth that Britain amassed as the world's first industrial nation was directly aided by the transatlantic slave trade, and this important museum ensures that the facts are told, detailing the part that Britain played in bringing millions of Africans to Europe between the 17th and 19th centuries. Wilberforce House (1639) was the birthplace in 1759 of politician and antislavery crusader William Wilberforce, whose campaigning efforts eventually led to the abolition of slavery in England in 1833.
The ground floor of the museum is dedicated to Wilberforce's life and the abolition campaign, while the 1st floor focuses on the origins of slavery, plantation conditions and the lives of those whose worlds were torn apart by it.