A Fantastic Free Day Out in London (British Museum)

Member Name: zebra

Product:	British Museum
Date:	22/05/01 (135 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: One of the most impressive museums in the world - and its free.

Disadvantages: It is impossible to see everything on one visit.

Some people think museums are boring but I think there is something of interest for everyone at the British Museum even it is only the spectacular new Great Court which recently opened there.

The British Museum houses six million objects including some of the most important collections in the world. I won’t attempt to describe what you can see there but concentrate on how you can get the most out of a visit. If you do want to visit the museum it really does help to check out their website at http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/ first. Entrance to the Museum is free but a request is made that donations of at least £2 are made if you can afford it.

~ ~ ~ The Great Court ~ ~ ~

It is difficult to describe the impression this stunning space makes when you first enter. It has an almost surreal effect as the classical architecture of the museum blends and merges into the ultra modern transformation that has been made. A sense of ultimate timelessness is captured and you could be either in an ancient classical forum or have just stepped into a computer game.

The Great court is the superb new feature of the British museum. It was opened in December 2000. It covers the area of a football pitch and is covered by an amazing vaulted latticework glass roof. In the centre is what appears to be a very modern building in gleaming smooth white limestone with two curving staircases gracefully ascending to somewhere high above. However, if you enter you are transported back in time to 1857 to share the atmosphere of the thousands of famous readers who frequented the famous Reading Room of what was the British library.

The inner courtyard of the British Museum has always been there but has until now been hidden from the public. The Reading room was completed in 1857 and the rest of the courtyard eventually became filled with British Library bookstacks and administration buildings. When the Library moved to its new headquarters the space
was reclaimed and this fantastic space created with the help of £100 million and the vision of the architect Sir Norman Foster.

The Great court contains 12 ancient sculptures representing the cultures in the galleries, these include a marble lion from Knidos, a statue Hoa Hakanananai’a from Easter Island and Egyptian obelisks.

The Court is open longer than the Museum (closes at 11pm Thurs – Sat) and certainly would warrant a visit in its own right. The bookshop and souvenir shop is open until 8pm and the Café and restaurant until 9pm Thurs – Sat (See website for other opening times).

The bookshop has a comprehensive range of books on mainly archaeological and historical subjects and also sells postcards and stationery. It is quite expensive though and small postcards cost 50p and larger ones are £1.25. The souvenirs are also quite pricey but every purchase made contributes to the work of the museum and as entrance to the museum is free I think they are justified in being a little pricey.

Digby Trout who also have branches in several other museums and London zoo manages the cafes and Restaurant. The food is fairly upmarket and trendy and the prices are average for London. Sandwiches cost from £2 and salads and sushi etc. at around £4. I didn’t actually sample enough of the food to make a comment but there are some independent reviews available on the restaurant at Digby Trout’s website at www.digbytrout.co.uk.

Outside the Montague Place entrance there is an African food van which serves African curries and other ethnic food and huge cups of tea for 70p and there are several cafes and sandwich bars opposite the front entrance to the museum.

~ ~ ~ The Reading Room ~ ~ ~

Once the preserve of holders of reader’s tickets the most famous Reading room in the world is now open to everyone.

The famous landmark copper dome of the Reading Room is 140 feet (43 metres) in
diameter and 106 feet (32.3 metres) high. It is larger than the dome of St Paul’s and only slightly smaller than the world’s largest domed building. The interior of the dome has been restored to its original blue and gold and is a quite spectacular sight.

You can visit the Reading room just to look and appreciate the atmosphere shared with the hundreds of famous and infamous readers or you can use it as the wonderful resource it now is for visitors to the museum.

The viewing area has book presses containing books written by some of the most famous readers who have used the Reading Room and a list of many of these great and famous is also on view.

The facilities in the Library include 50 terminals to access COMPASS which has information on thousands of objects in the museum. Here you can check out things you would be interested in seeing, follow a virtual tour or search for more information on anything you have found particularly interesting. The COMPASS service is also available online from the museum website so you can check it out before you go and when you return (if you note down the reference code of the item you are interested in you can enter that in the search box for instant information).

The reference library contains over 12,000 books of relevance to the collections to pursue further research.


~ ~ ~ The Museum ~ ~ ~


When you arrive you will find cloakrooms near both entrances where coats and bags may be left. The charges are £1 per item which is quite reasonable I think.

The museum contains nearly 100 galleries containing some of the most interesting exhibits in the world and it is impossible to see it all in a short visit. The visit guide (£2.50) suggests that a general visit will take about 3 hours and that if you have less time it is better to concentrate on one area or take a guided tour. So the first port of call should be the information desk which has details of th
e various tours, talks and events going on.

~ ~ ~ Tours available ~ ~ ~

Highlights tour takes 90mins and takes place at 10.30am and 1pm Mon – Sat and more frequently on Sunday – cost £7

Focus Tours 60 mins at 3.15pm - cost £5

Eye Opener tours are Free and last 50 mins. There are 8 tours per day covering major areas of the collections. These tours are every half hour from 11am to 3pm and cover the Classical world, the Americas. Asia, Ancient Egypt, Prehistoric and Roman Britain, Islamic world, Europe and the Ancient Near East.

Spotlights are also free and last 20 mins. These focus on particular exhibits and take place at 12.30 and 6.15pm.

Highlights Audio tour costs £2,50 and takes as long as you like. There is also an audio tour available in the Parthenon room which contains the famous Elgin marbles.


The events guide is available free from the information desk and is also online.

~ ~ ~ The Highlights Audio Tour ~ ~ ~

The audio tour is available from the information desk. You have to leave an item of personal identification at the desk as a deposit. You are given an audio set which is very simple to use, a floor plan and a highlight guide.

The tour covers 50 specially selected items in many galleries. The guide shows pictures of the objects and details of its location (e.g. Room 13, Case 8, Vase B210) there is no special route to follow and you simply choose which items you wish to see in whatever order you feel like.

Doing the tour is a bit like a treasure hunt and quite good fun in its own right. It could however seem a bit frustrating if you don’t have a lot of time. The quite small pictures give no indication of the scale of the object you are looking for and the exhibit may be huge or very small. I had difficulty in locating many of the items but the museum attendants were always very helpful and directed me to the correct place.

On
ce you have found your ‘treasure’ you simply key in its number (1 – 50) and after an introduction of some suitable music you are given detailed information on the object. I thought the commentaries were generally excellent.

This tour includes the Rosetta stone, Assyrian Lion Hunt relief, sculptures from the Mayan temples, Aztec turquoise mosaics, statues of Shiva and the goddess Tara and many other interesting items. It also includes two ancient corpses, ‘Ginger’ a 5000 year old Egyptian and the famous Lindow man, which I can’t say I’m very happy about but some people seem to enjoy looking at dead bodies.

~ ~ ~ Special Exhibitions ~ ~ ~

The museum usually has a special exhibition on in the Great Court Gallery and at the moment it is Cleopatra of Egypt: From History to Myth. A charge is made for these special exhibitions and the Cleopatra one costs £7. I went to a private viewing while attending a conference but I can’t honestly say that it would be worth the money to see it. I know quite a lot about Cleopatra anyway and it is difficult to know if that made it less interesting for me. The only thing I would recommend on this exhibition and others that are charged is that you check it out on COMPASS before you decide to view it. The COMPASS virtual tour is a good representation of what is there. Also if you are interested in the Cleopatra exhibition do read MykReeve’s excellent opinion on it – it has so much information on her that you probably won’t need to visit the exhibition.

~ ~ ~ Conclusion ~ ~ ~

I think the British Museum is well worth a visit – indeed lots of visits. But the visit will be even better if you check out the events and find something of interest to focus on.

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