Museum of London

Facts and information

Address:: Museum of London, 150 London Wall, Barbican,
London EC2Y 5HN
England
Website:: www.museumoflondon.org.uk
Opening times:: 10 AM to 6 PM (daily); Last admission 5.30 PM; Note: Opening times are subject to change, and may not apply on public holidays. Always reconfirm with the venue before making plans.
Cost:: Free
Telephone:: Work +44 (0) 207 001 9844
Buses:: 4 8 25 56 100 153 176 243 521
Trains:: Barbican CRC H&C MET, Farringdon CRC H&C MET, Mansion House CRC DSC, Moorgate CRC H&C MET NRN, St. Paul’s CNT Note: The nearest train station to Museum of London is Barbican. We can help you find the best route from any other train station:
Train journey to Museum of London

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The Museum of London is the world’s largest city history museum. It started life in 1912 in the glorious surrounds of Kensington Palace, until a better premises was built in the Barbican Centre.

History of the City of London

The London before London gallery tells the story of the city before it was even there. It details early dwellings and archaeological finds dug up from the Thames – at a time when the population numbered under fifty. You can see over 300 objects that were left on the bed to please the gods, including bronze tools and iron swords.

You can also meet the oldest-ever Londoner – a 5,500-year-old skeleton.

The second gallery concentrates on Roman London – the mighty Londinium. It sprung up in 50 AD as a means to link Colchester with the rest of the country.

Pride of place goes to the Temple of Mithras. This was dug up in 1954 and moved to its present location ten years later. You can also see a 4th-century coffin of a young Roman lady, and reconstructed Roman pavement.

Saxon and Medieval London

This gallery covers the 5th-century AD to 1500 – a stretch of time that covers the Viking hordes, the Norman Conquest and several wars with Scotland.

William the Conqueror, Geoffrey Chaucer and Thomas Becket are some of the names that get an airing.

London from the 15th-century

The Tudor and Stuart gallery runs from 1485 to 1666. Read about Henry VIII and his umpteen wives. Find out about Charles I, Oliver Cromwell and the English Civil War. There is also a reconstruction of Shakespeare’s famous playhouse – now built for real at the Globe.

Don’t miss the Great Fire Experience – a working model of the Great Fire of London with narration from Samuel Pepys’ diary. You can watch London rise from the ashes with the original maps and documents of the damage, and rebuilding plans under Christopher Wren.

The 17th and early 18th-century saw London blossom into a centre of scientific learning. You can read about the Guilds and Corporation that ran The City – with clothes and goods from the period.

One of the museum’s most impressive exhibits is the Lord Mayor’s coach. Built in 1757, this gilded trap is covered in carvings and painted panels by the Florentine artist Cipriani. It is still used every year in the Lord Mayor’s parade.

History of modern London

The World City gallery is by far the largest in the museum – covering the boom in population from one to seven million.

Read about Queen Victoria and the Great Exhibition. There is also a life-size reconstruction of a Victorian street, complete with shop fronts and lamplights.

>> Drummerboy’s blog – Museum of London

Drummerboy – “Like all museums, half the stuff you see is done in two-seconds because it’s just bones, stones and flints. The one redeeming feature in the prehistoric section was all the animal bones – rhinos, elephants and safari stuff like that. They’ve got some mammoth teeth too. It turns out that London used to be better than Whipsnade Zoo. I thought the Tudors and Stuarts section was the most interesting bit because you get to see some debris from the Great Fire of London… continued.”

>> Write a review of Museum of London Read all reviews

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JerrySmith – “As someone who loves London and devours every book on the subject, I have to say that I was slightly disappointed by the Museum of London. I think it works well if you are a student, as there are plenty of items that have been found by archaelogist (coins,… read the full review”
pearlyqueen – “There are lots of things to enjoy here, and some things that you might want to skip. I am not a big fan of looking at bones and pots and little bits of flint, so i pretty much skipped the whole first section which deals with pre-history. But things are muc… read the full review”