The Museum of London

London’s iconic modern
architecture in miniature

I will freely admit that my favourite London museum is the Museum of London on London Wall in the City. While we have grand museums in the centre of town that cater to all sorts of tastes and interests, it’s this 1970s building that really excites me every time I visit. As you might imagine, the Museum of London is entirely dedicated to the history of this wonderful city of ours, all the way from its origins as an Iron Age settlement, through the Roman era when, as Londinium, it was a major commercial centre in this most far-flung outpost of the Empire, right through to the modern day (as an aside, you may not be aware that for the most part the boundaries of the ancient city are mirrored in the modern-day extent of the City of London).

The Lord Mayor’s Coach

There’s a wealth of knowledge to be gained by paying a visit to the Museum of London – amongst its many features is a large recreation of a Victorian shopping street and a Georgian-era pleasure garden, as well as interactive displays which cover areas as diverse as the effect on London of the Great Fire, the Blitz and the ‘swinging sixties’. There’s also a special exhibition space that features different displays throughout the year, which until September 2011is showing candid street photography taken in London from 1860 onwards. Alongside its sister museum, the Museum of London Docklands over in Canary Wharf, and the Guildhall Art Gallery which is just a few streets away (and where you’ll discover the foundations of Londinium’s Roman amphitheatre) there’s enough on show at these three sites to satisfy even the most insatiable history buff. I highly recommend a visit if you have any interest in looking at how London has developed over the centuries.