The Museum of London – crammed full of London’s history (Museum of London)

Member Name: libertybell

Product:	Museum of London
Date:	21/12/00 (134 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Layout, massive collection of exhibits, the Roman town, great VFM

Disadvantages: Blows your mind if you try and take it all in!

I must admit I do enjoy visiting museums and as I was on holiday with a few days spare before Christmas – I decided to get along to the Museum of London – something I had been promising myself for the last nine months or so.

Its not a difficult museum to find and you can walk to it from a number of local tube stations. I went by tube from Paddington to Moorgate on the Circle/Hammersmith and City/Metropolitan line and followed the brown direction signs along the walkway known as the London Wall. If you don’t fancy that – try getting off at St Paul’s on the Central line and walking up St Martins/Aldersgate. The Museum is right in front of you. Alternatively, take the tube to Barbican on the same line as for Moorgate and walk down Aldersgate Street.

The building was built in 1976 and houses a vast number of exhibits drawn from the Guildhall Museum (founded by the Corporation of London in 1826) and the Museum of London at its previous location. It has 2 levels and 20 exhibition areas. In the middle is the Garden Court, which contains many shrubs and clay pots. It looks more like a research centre than a garden – but as I was here for the historical stuff and not a botany lesson – I gave it a wide berth!

Compared with other museums I have been to, the Museum of London is remarkably good value for money. It’s £5 for adults, £3 for students, unwaged and OAP’s. Those under 16 get in for free. Like most museums in London, it’s free after 4.30pm though you will be hard pressed to get round it all in 1 hour or so. If you do pay, your ticket is valid for a year from date of issue. It’s open from 10am to 5.50pm Monday to Saturday and from 12-5.50pm on Sunday’s.

What becomes immediately apparent after collecting the free map of the museum is how much there is to see and how well it’s organised. Basically you start in the pre-historic times and as you move through the
various halls, you move through the centuries until you get to the present day. In addition the museum has a number of temporary exhibits. On my visit, there were displays included: High Street Londinium (more of that later), London’s Gladiators, clubs/societies collecting things, and ‘Stolen skins – fur in fashion’. The last one was a bit contentious – many furs were present along with the anti-fur posters from the 1980’s.

Lets get on with the grand tour.

The first exhibit I came across was about Geoffrey Chaucer – life and times. There were books and other knickknacks from the time.

The must see exhibition is the ‘High Street Londinium’. As result of building work in the City of London, a large number of Roman artefacts were discovered and these have been used to recreate London AD100 in the museum. It’s brilliant. The floors are clay, the walls wattle and daub and there are about 10 rooms in all – all showing how Romans would have lived. There is even a lady making a blanket who addresses you in Roman! The builders have used Roman methods and materials to put together the houses. Unlike the Jorvik Museum in York – you can touch the houses and fixtures and you don’t get the ‘realistic smells’ in the Museum of London.

In the Gladiator section, they have built a model of a London amphitheatre – capacity 7000 people. There were even female Gladiators – they have found a grave, which was on display.

Leaving the Londinium exhibition there are other Roman exhibits including jewellery, models of houses and weaponry. There is so much stuff!

After the Romans you pass through halls containing exhibits on the Dark Ages, Saxon London and Medieval London where there is a model of the original St Paul’s cathedral. Each period is well described with interpretation boards and there were few people there so I was able to
wander at my leisure.

And so onto Tudor London. Whilst listening to contemporary madrigals, you can marvel over the fine clothes, and the riches from other lands. There is a model of the Rose Theatre and the London Bridge, which because of its many arches encouraged the Thames to freeze over on numerous occasions. Those who were beheaded had their heads stuck on posts at the Southwark end!

The last exhibits on the top level take us to the Early Stuart Period. Here the Civil War is described followed by the fire of London. The rebirth of London post the fire happens on the lower floor.

Walking from one level to the other, you can see the red and gold Lord Mayors coach. Built in 1755, it is only used once per year and for Coronations.

On the lower floor, the story of the Stuarts continues. There is a ‘propaganda’ plaque removed from the Monument, which described the fire as being caused by Roman Catholics to overthrow the Protestant establishment. It was removed, as the accusation was never proven!

The Eighteenth Century section is characterised by culture, the empire, the loss of the US and the French Wars. It was a great time for architecture and the building of those great squares. The museum is good as it covers both the nice and not so nice aspects of London life. There is a reconstruction of Newgate prison and a description of how popular executions were.

Nineteenth Century London is described in a huge number of exhibits. The creation of railways, the Postal Service, the Empire, trade, poverty in the East end, the growth of leisure time. What interested me was the model of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Designed by Joseph Paxman, it was visited by 6m people and was considered a great success. The building covered 19 acres and was moved to Sydenham in 1854 where it gradually fell into disuse and was burnt down in 1936.

And into the Twentieth Century. This covers the war years, Suffragette
s (very interesting), and the changes we experienced in shopping. There is a reconstruction of an early C20 Woolies and Sainsbury’s.

The final exhibit is a collection of items gathered by local groups and societies. I felt this was a bit odd and not up to the normal high standards of the museum.

Upon leaving the museum, there is a well-stocked Gift Shop where I bought a book on the museum and its exhibits (£7.95), a book on Roman Archaeology another on railways.

There is a café place opposite the entrance but the hot food looked a bit congealed and so I gave it a miss.

The Museum is well worth a visit even if you don’t live in London. It’s packed with all sorts of items and tries to look at all aspects of London life. Young children will struggle to take it all in and so a number of visits may be a good idea.

Personally, I will go there again and wander around key areas a little more slowly. With my 1-year pass – it won’t cost me a dime!

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