Museum of London

The Museum of London has a mission...to inspire a passion for London by communicating facts and stories about London's culture, history and archaeology to Londoners and visitors alike and documents the history of our capital city from the Palaeolithic age to the present day.

The museum resides in a modern building close to Barbican and is modern in its displays and how it presents information to visitors. However, the museum places a strong emphasis on archaeology and the museum itself is situated close to fragments of the Roman London wall.

Collections and artefacts are split up into two distinct sections; Prehistoric to 1700 and 1700 to Today.

Prehistoric to 1700 is divided into four key periods, Prehistoric; Roman; Saxon & Medieval and Tudor and Stuart.

The 1700 to Today section of the museum displays collections of a more recent nature and is split into the following sections, Decorative Arts; Dress & Fashion; Life Stories & Oral History; Paintings, prints & drawings; Photographs; Port & Rover collection and Social & Working History.

Highlights of the museum include the Lord Mayor's state coach and reconstructions of street life in Victorian London, pottery, bones, stone, Bronze age metal work, iron Lord Nelson's sword, gold and silver jewellery, recorded oral histories, water vessels, artwork, photographs, costume and a lot more besides.

The Museum of London also features number of online, virtual and temporary exhibitions, throughout the year a number of family events and workshops, the majority of which are free. You can find out more about these free events in our Family and Exhibition sections.

The Museum of London is open daily from 10am till 5.50pm Monday to Saturday and from 12pm to 5.50pm on Sunday. The museum is closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

Find out more about the Museum of London.

How to get there

The closest tube stations are at Barbican, Moorgate and Farringdon.

If travelling by bus the 4, 8, 25, 55, 56, 100, 153, 172 and 243 all serve Barbican, Moorgate and the surrounding areas.