National Wool Museum

The National Wool Museum is a public museum in central Geelong, Victoria, dedicated to Australia's wool industry. Housed in the heritage-listed former Dennys Lascelles Austin Wool Store built in 1872 on Moorabool Street, it opened in 1988. The museum documents Geelong's role as a major wool centre through collections, machinery, textiles and interactive displays illustrating wool growing, processing and manufacturing.

Visitors can expect a multi-level museum inside a restored bluestone woolstore with permanent galleries on the history of Australian wool, sheep farming and textile manufacturing. Exhibits include historic wool presses, working looms and carpet-making machinery, interactive displays on wool processing, fibre and fashion, plus temporary exhibitions, audio-visual presentations and a museum shop. The setting is urban central Geelong near the waterfront.

Housed in the former Dennys Lascelles Austin Wool Store constructed in 1872, the museum reflects Geelong's 19th and 20th century prominence as a wool trading and manufacturing centre. The woolstore was operated by Dennys Lascelles Ltd, a major wool broking firm. The National Wool Museum was established in 1988 to preserve and interpret Australia's wool story and the industrial heritage of the Geelong region.

The museum documents the cultural and economic importance of wool to Australia and to Geelong, known historically as a wool city. It preserves textile heritage, craft skills and community stories linked to sheep farming, wool growing and manufacturing, and presents contemporary textile arts and design.