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Museum of London

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actonsteve
actonsteve
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4 out of 5
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Editor Pick

From Londinium to London

  • June 23, 2009
  • Rated 3 of 5 by Sonia3 from London, United Kingdom


-Getting There-
The Museum of London is located between St. Paul's tube station and Moorgate.
The museum is well sign posted from Moorgate tube station but I would still recommend printing off a map or directions because the signposts are quite small and easy to miss (at least if you're not wearing your glasses, like me).

Actually getting into the museum is like a military operation. I swear, they don't actually want people to go in there. As you approach the museum you will see a big sign (and I mean really really big) saying the Museum of London. You go towards it and find that actually it's only a roundabout. The sign posts have steered you towards here and you can't see any more sign posts but you also can't see an entrance.

The entrance is actually above street level. If you're more observant than me you'll probably notice that there are small signs in front of lifts and escalators on the roads around the round about (not actually on the roundabout where the big sign is) with Museum of London on. You take a lift or escalator (or if you're feeling especially energetic you can walk up the stairs) to the actual museum entrance. I think that this should be better signposted and made more clear. I had to ask someone how to get into the museum and it was only when he pointed me to the right entrance that I noticed the signs.

-Entrance-
Entry to the museum is free.

When we entered the museum we went straight to the reception desk to get a map. We were greeted very warmly and informed that entry was free and then pointed in the direction of the entrance to the exhibitions.

-The Museum-

The first section of the museum is called London before London and is basically London before the Roman's invaded. The majority of this exhibition seemed to be about the changes in the land and climate, as well as the early inhabitants. I don't really have much interest in this period of history so I didn't read every little thing. What I did really like about this exhibit was that throughout the room they had posters with general information about the era. This information wasn't very detailed but it did give you a good general idea about what was happening at the time and the important changes that took place. For someone like me who doesn't know much about this time period and would struggle to take in and understand too much information this was perfect, just enough information for me to feel like I had learnt something without feeling overwhelmed by it. For those who are more interested in this period there was a lot of information that went into more depth on the display cabinets, usually illustrated by various artefacts. I gave up on reading this information because I found it quite dull but as I said, I have no interest in this time period.

When you exit the London Before London part of the museum you enter the London's Burning 1666 exhibition. I wanted to do the museum in chronological order so we skipped this part and came back to it at the end. Instead we moved onto the Roman London exhibition. I found this part of the museum to be really interesting. As the name suggests it was all about Roman London.
I particularly liked the small models of how the city would have looked in Roman times, I think that these help you to grasp the differences between London now and London then.
I don't generally consider myself to be a very visual person, I prefer to read about things but I felt that the visual aids in this museum really helped me to understand more about the Roman period. Seeing the replica's of shops, work shops and homes really brought it to life for me.
The information provided in this section, and in fact throughout the entire museum, seems very basic to me. I imagine the information provided would be sufficient for a child or someone with little or no knowledge of history but although I enjoyed looking at the models of the city and the replica's of Roman homes, shops and workshops I was left wanting to know more. There were some interesting facts but most of what I read was common knowledge and very brief.

The next exhibition is on Medieval London. I was surprised to see how little space was dedicated to this period in London's history. It was half the size of the Roman section and covered over a thousand years (compared to the Roman era that was just 360 years).
I was hoping to find out more about the Viking's and the Saxon's because I have next to no knowledge of them. Unfortunately I still very little knowledge of them. The museum has very small sections dedicated to each. There is a board that tells you when they invaded and what they called London and then a few exhibits with various items from that era but little else. I was very disappointed with this.

I felt that the layout of this section lacked logic and was quite confusing. I found myself reading about something that happened in 1100Ce and then something that had happened in 900Ce. I'm not good with numbers (I always wonder how I managed to get a history degree when I have so much trouble remembering years) and this just further confused me and made it difficult for me to understand what order things happened in.

The information provided seems a bit haphazard. You might learn about the impact of religion in one century and the monarch of the next century. I think some consistency in the information given would have been better. For example, either focusing the exhibition on the monarchy and the changes in the monarchy or focusing the exhibition on the way that common people lived or on the changes in religion and how it impacted London. I didn't really feel like it was a history of London. Everything was relevant to London but I was expecting a more complete history of London and the way that the people lived and the city changed.

The next section was London 1558-1666. The most notable part of this section was the part on the plague. I was a bit disappointed to find that the museum gives conflicting information that I think will leave some people confused. They have a board with information about the plague on and claim that half of Londoners were killed by the plague. On the other side of the same board it has a quiz, one of the questions is how many Londoners died in the plague. The answer that they give is that there is conflicting information and it could be between a quarter and half of Londoners.

I did find the video on the plague to be very moving. It was a very brief video and didn't contain that many facts but it did really make you realise how horrific the Plague was and how much people suffered.

After that we headed back to London's Burning, the exhibition on the fire of London.. It's located near the beginning of the exhibitions, between London Before London and Roman London but it's actually chronologically the last part of the exhibitions. I thought the location of this exhibition was really bad planning on the part of the museum.

London's Burning was my favourite part of the museum. I've been in many museums that have exhibitions on the fire of London and I've visited the London Dungeon's Great Fire of London experience but I don't think anywhere has ever brought it to life in quite the way that the Museum of London did. There is so much information on the Fire of London and this is probably the one place where I can't complain about lack of information. I learnt about far more than just the fire and it's immediate impact on London, I learnt about the way it impacted on building regulations (some people may think this is boring, I personally found it fascinating), insurance and fire procedures in London.
There was a six minute video on the great fire which I really enjoyed. It is based on eye witness accounts and I thought that this was a nice touch, it really helped me to empathise with the people of the time.

Unfortunately there are no exhibitions on any time period after 1666 at the moment due to renovations. This was very disappointing but I was aware of this before going to the museum. I will hopefully return in 2010 to see the rest of the museum when it opens!

From journal London Museums

Editor Pick

The Museum of London - Tales of the City

  • February 28, 2009
  • Rated 3 of 5 by Liam Hetherington from Manchester, United Kingdom
The Museum of London - Tales of the City

In the heart of the City of London, the gleaming headquarters of bankers, lawyers and accountants hide the darker history of this city. The free Museum of London seeks to answer the questions of why London even exists in its present location, and how it evolved to form the sprawling metropolis that at one time governed an the largest empire the world has ever seen.

To be honest I was not aware that the Museum of London existed. The roll-call of great London museums includes the British Museum, the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum, the National Gallery, the V&A… yet somehow the Museum of London is not counted among that elite coterie. Perhaps it is because it could be seen as parochial; whereas the aforementioned museums draw their collections from across the world, the Museum of London draw theirs from a region no more than thirty miles square.

This is a shame, because it is the very specificity that makes this museum interesting. The character of London tends to emerge here. Sadly not the whole character – the lower floor is currently being renovated for re-opening in 2010, and so the story of the city seems to abruptly end in 1666. But what I did see intrigued me enough to want to revisit in future and continue the story.

The first part of the tale of London’s growth starts with the first settlers in ‘London Before London’. The Thames was once a very different river, a mere tributary of the mighty Rhine, until the map of Europe altered. As selected skulls, horns and bones show, the Thames valley was populated by elephants, lions, rhinos and cave bears. Early settlements dotted the landscape. One lies underneath the runway at Heathrow airport as a diorama shows. One body found, that of the Shepperton Woman, has been reconstructed. Paleoforensic investigation reveals intriguing hints about her life story. For instance, a high level of lead in her teeth suggests she originated from Derbyshire. What brought her down here? As the iron age kicked in you can see decorated weaponry, elaborately fashioned and then thrown into the Thames as an offering. You can see a horned helmet and a reconstruction of the Battersea Shield that sits in the British Museum.

So settlements dotted the Thames valley when the Romans arrived, first under Julius Caesar, and then full invasion under Claudius. Pre-Roman names survive in the names ‘London’ and ‘Thames’. There is a large section showing the development of the Roman city. There are reconstructions of a street of shops, impressive hoards of glittering gold coins, evidence of religious practices and entertainment activities (including a leather ‘bikini’ worm by performers). There is also a lovely mosaic floor that is used to show how a wealthy family’s triclinium would look. Models show what we know the city would look like (including the largest basilica outside Italy). But with London developing layer upon layer over the original Roman settlement there is a lot that is not known. The information panels admit that it is believed that there would have been a theatre and circus, but we do not know where. Also, only one temple associated with a specific individual deity has been found. And oddly, rather than a god from the Roman pantheon such as Jupiter, Mercury or Minerva, that temple was dedicated to Mithras, an exotic eastern religion. The London temple of Mithras is now one of the best known.

As you wander the displays listening to the unobtrusive audio tape in the background (woodland noises in the ‘London Before London’ display, the splash of river traffic and the catcalls of traders and curses in Latin in the Roman London section) one thing becomes quite apparent: the curators have quite a playful sense of humour. A board highlighting the growth of ornamentation on weaponry in the Iron Age is punningly entitled ‘Designed to Impress’; a view over a remnant of the Roman and medieval city wall is headed ‘All Along The Watchtower’; best of all the (disappointingly small) panel detailing Boudicca’s revolt and razing of London is made to look charred with the graffiti tag ‘Romans Go Home’ (or ‘Romani eunt domo’ as I believe John Cleese’s centurion insisted in ‘The Life Of Brian’).

When the Romans did indeed go home London was abandoned. It lay empty and overgrown through the Dark Ages and only started to grow again in the 9th century. The Medieval London section introduces you to a booming city. Wonder at the model of St Paul’s Cathedral – not the domed Wren construction we know today, but a Gothic cathedral with a towering central steeple. After the destruction wrought by the Black Death in the 1360s (in which an entire third of the European population perished) a new era of wealth hit the city. You can see artefacts from the collections of the Medieval guilds that still play a role in the life of the City today. You can also see treasures confiscated from the church following Henry VIII’s break with Rome.

The displays from the next century are the weakest part of the collection to my eyes. The most important chapter in the city’s history is shown in more detail in a separate exhibition on the 1666 Great Fire of London. I was able to join a free guided tour of this area. Kim was a bubbly young guide, if struggling slightly with her microphone pack. She explains the internal conditions on the city in 1666, the outbreak of the fire (woken to attend, the Mayor of London disparagingly commented that "a woman could piss it out" and went back to bed), eye-witness accounts of the progress of the blaze (largely the diarist Samuel Pepys), and the aftermath where culprits were looked for. One disturbed French lad did confess and was executed, but the chief culprits were put down alternatively as Catholic saboteurs, or a punishment from God for the ‘wickednesse and gluttonie’ of Londoners. I feel we can safely discount the latter theory; after all there have been no major conflagrations since… You can also see designs for the rebuilding of the city along orderly lines and wide traffic-easing thoroughfares. As anyone who has ever visted London can tell you, none of these designs were followed.

I have to say, I found the Museum of London an interesting look into the history of what has never been one of my favourite cities. When the renovations of the lower floor are complete in 2010 I think it will be well worth another visit to take the story of this most storied of cities up to the present day.

Admission is free. The nearest tube stations are Barbican (Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lins) to the north, and St Paul’s (Central line) to the south. The museum is located in a rather awful looking 1970s concrete traffic circle, accessed by escalators or lifts. If you are heading between the Museum & St Paul’s Cathedral check out a little opening to the west of the road that leads to Postman’s Park, and a late Victorian memorial to those who died saving others. Those who have seen the film of ‘Closer’ will remember Natalie Portman’s character Alice here.

From journal The A-Muse-ment Arcades: Culture on the Cheap

Editor Pick

Museum of London

  • April 22, 2008
  • Rated 5 of 5 by callen60 from Ozarks, Missouri
Museum of London

I didn’t know about this museum until a friend raved about it before I first visited London in 2001. Now, I wouldn’t skip it. After a half-day exploring a terrific exhibit about Roman London, as well as the permanent collection, it was high on the list of places we wanted to take our kids on a return trip. It’s a great introduction to London, and although the lowest level (from the Great Fire of 1666 to the present) is closed through 2009, there’s still plenty to see.

The Museum is directly north of St Paul’s, a 10-minute walk up Aldersgate. We left the Cathedral and circled around it to the north along Paternoster Row, stopping to admire the recently relocated Temple Bar. After lunch at Pizza Express, we headed west back to the Museum, enjoying one of several (but limited) periods of bright sun we had that week, stopping to admire the remain of the Roman Wall just east of the Museum.

The Museum uses the foyer for a series of short-lived, topical exhibitions. “Weather Permitting: London’s Changing Climate” was playing in that space during our visit, which looked at the variety of weather-induced events, average temperatures, and human effects on London’s weather and air quality over time. Famous floods of the Thames, length rainstorms, and long-lasting impenetrable fogs are all highlighted.

After a brief orientation from one of the helpful staff, we headed into the Museum, each going our separate ways. Just to the right of the entrance, “London Before London” used artifacts, animation, and maps to look at the series of prehistoric cultures that occupied London and southern England before the Romans came. These cultures go back surprisingly far, and the archaeological evidence supporting those claims is nicely laid out. I hadn’t realized the extent to which ice ages and their corresponding impact on sea levels changed both the coastline of England, and the course of the Thames. Go back far enough, and England is physically part of Europe!

“London’s Burning” is the temporary exhibit in the center of the first floor. Beyond it’s nod to The Clash, it brings home the utter disaster that befell the city in 1666, destroying the home and livelihoods of 100,000 people. The exhibit combines the recollections of Pepys and others, paintings of the disaster, relics discovered in excavations, and hands-on displays aimed at children. It tackles the rumors and lies told about the fire (such as, ‘it was ordered by the Pope’), and the city’s recovery from the disaster—which, not surprisingly, took years. I’d never really thought about what happened to the residents in post-fire period. Evidently, large and raucous tent cities developed on the fringes of the area. I kept thinking of post-Katrina New Orleans all through the exhibit, and wondering if 17th century London didn’t recover faster.

Only the first floor was open, and even less of that than promised. In addition to the post-fire London exhibits closure, the post-Tudor section of the first floor was also closed that day. The remaining galleries include extensive sections on Roman London, some of which I remembered from the ‘High Street Londinium’ exhibit that was there on my first. The ‘Medieval London’ galleries end in 1558, and that’s where my two-hour tour of London’s history ended also, as workmen had sealed off the last section.

The gift shop is one of the best in the city, with a great combination of books, posters and cards related to London and history, as well as fun items and above average souvenirs. Two of my kids found London-map-embossed bags and wallets here, which prompted an admiring comment from a bus driver the next day.

From journal London, Free and Easy

Editor Pick

Museum of London

  • March 24, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Scorpiosue1102 from Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Alright, one of the best things about this museum is that it's free! Great value, eh? All kidding aside, it's a great museum to see the development of London and everything in between. You literally will see everything, from prehistoric items to the Lord Mayor's coach. All are very interesting. Going on the weekend is a good idea, because the area is like a ghost town. I personally enjoyed the Tudor and Stuart era. I love this era, so to see how they lived then was very interesting. Also, you see how The Great Fire started and enveloped so much of the city. There's a little room that is darkened, and you'll see how it slowly started and then went rampant. It's a good exhibit for kids. Another great area of the museum is the Victorian section. There are little rooms, or vignets, that present everything from a barber to a pharmacy. You will feel like you are part of that era. Also, you can take pictures in this area, so click away. Lastly, the Roman room is fantastic. I truly enjoyed that one. You feel like you really are in Roman times. There are Roman walls (including one outside) and tiles that are just spectacular. But to look at marble statues from the Temple of Mithras is just awesome! You look at it and think "some Roman looked at this and admired its beauty, just like me." One of the last things to see is the Lord Mayor's Coach. It was built in 1757 and as glided with gold as it can be! This is just as spectacular as the Royal Coach used for crowning the monarchs, another great picture for the scrapbook. We took the Tube from the Barbican stop. The museum is right down the road from it.

From journal My Trip to London

Editor Pick

Museum of London

  • August 21, 2005
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Owen Lipsett from New York, New York
Museum of London

It's fitting that London is blessed with the world largest, most comprehensive, and altogether finest city museum. Even though over a millennium's worth of exhibitions (the "Medieval Galleries" covering AD 410-1558) won't reopen until Autumn 2005, the other exhibitions more than make up for this lacuna. There's something here for every age group and level of knowledge, from the delightfully ornate Lord Mayor's Coach to disturbing wax models depicting diseases rampant in 19th-century London's vast underclass.

For all this breadth, however, you can get a reasonable sense of London's past, from pre-history to 1914, when the museum's collections terminate, in a couple of hours, either with the recorded tour (for which there is a charge) or by taking advantage of the extensive labeling that accompanies each item on display. Indeed, more than any individual exhibition, this straightforwardness is probably the museum's best attribute since London's history has been extremely complex. It commendably covers the experiences not only of the nobility and merchant class, but also examines the plight of women, the poor, and immigrants, who usually get short shrift in this kind of museum elsewhere.

Unusual for a civic museum, the first gallery "London Before London" deals with pre-history, providing a wealth of information on the early inhabitants of the Thames Valley in neon-lit display cases that wouldn't be out of a place in a modern art museum! Personally, I prefer the Roman Gallery, which harks back to the city's foundation as Londinium and contains a pair of very impressive reconstructed rooms featuring actual Roman mosaics. I enjoyed the recordings featuring spoken Latin and the cookbook of foods consumed by Roman patricians – including milk-fed snails and stuffed dormice! By contrast, the Tudor and Early Stuart section is little more than some ostentatious furnishings accompanied by a careworn display on the Great Fire of 1666.

This seminal event in London's history is your cue to walk to the airy downstairs galleries. "Late Stuart London" covers the rebuilding of the city, largely under the auspices of Sir Christopher Wren, best known for designing St. Paul's Cathedral. "Eighteenth Century London" examines the development of both bourgeois and plebeian culture in the reborn city – as well as displaying a cell from the notorious Newgate Prison. The museum's largest and most interesting exhibition covers London's rise as the world's preeminent economic and cultural center between 1789 and 1914. If you're pressed for time, you should come directly here, as it goes further in explaining how London came to be the city it is today than any other exhibition.

The museum's exhibitions compose an essential introduction to London. It also plays host to quite a few events (many geared to families and most free) every day, many of which offer the opportunity to add an interactive element to your visit. Inquire at the Information Desk when you enter, where you can also pick up a free museum map and find out about temporary exhibitions (for which there is often an admission charge.)

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk

From journal London For Nothing - Seeing Sights for Free

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