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  • London's best unsung museums

  • Compiled by Time Out editors

  • Alongside the V&A, Science, Natural History and British Museums, the capital has a host of smaller, lesser-known collections. Here's our guide to London's best secret museums

    London's best unsung museums

    Horniman Museum © Paula Glassman

  • Apsley House & Wellington Arch
    This Robert Adam-designed house is crammed with artworks plundered by or presented to Wellington during his career, including some impressive candelabras and a giant neoclassical statue of Napoleon. There’s not much in the way of biographical detail but you’ll pick up plenty while trying to reach the complementary Wellington Arch via a tortuous underpass enlivened by informative mosaics. The Arch itself has viewing platforms and a permanent display about other London arches.
    Best exhibit Wellington’s death mask.
    Apsley House & Wellington Arch, 149 Piccadilly, W1 (7222 1234/www.english-heritage.org.uk). Hyde Park Corner tube.

    Bank of England Museum
    FREE
    Tacked on to the end of the Bank of England, this museum is housed in a replica Sir John Soane interior, the largest of its kind in the world. It offers a good blend of modern, child-friendly attractions and dusty older corridors that the grown-ups will enjoy. The museum tells the history of the Bank and currency in the UK, and there’s lots of stuff about forgery.
    Best exhibits A bar of gold you can pick up and a full set of NatWest piggy banks circa 1983.
    Bank of England Museum, Threadneedle St, EC2 (7601 5545/www.bankofengland.co.uk). Bank tube/DLR. Feature continues

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    Benjamin Franklin House
    This creaky old London home of the US politician and scientist focuses on the scientific discoveries he made while living here between 1757 and 1775.
    Benjamin Franklin House, 36 Craven St, WC2 SNF (www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org). Charing Cross tube/rail.

    Bramah Museum of Tea and Coffee
    If there were an award for the most eccentric and lovingly assembled museum in London, the Bramah Tea & Coffee Museum, only two minutes from London Bridge Station, would surely scoop the prize. This ramshackle collection chronicles the commercial and social impact of the tea and coffee trade in Europe over the last 400 years, and many of the articles come from tea master Edward Bramah’s personal collection. The museum is currently closed (Jan 2009) for refurbishment.
    Best exhibit
    For the hirsute tea-quaffer, customised teacups with special moustache guards.
    Bramah Museum of Tea and Coffee, 40 Southwark St, SE1 (7403 5650/www.teaandcoffeemuseum.co.uk/). London Bridge tube/ rail.

    The British Dental Association Museum
    FREE
    The history of British dentistry (don’t scoff, Americans). Features lots of teeth, plus old dentists’ chairs and oral health posters.
    The British Dental Association Museum, 64 Wimpole St, W1G 8YS (www.bda.org/museum). Regent's Park tube.

    Brunel Engine House
    Within the elegant confines of this red brick engine house is the tale of the design and construction of the Thames Tunnel, the oldest tunnel in London. Visitors are able to learn of the struggles of fires and floods experienced during its construction, as well as visit the tunnel itself, which runs directly beneath the engine house. This was the first tunnel to be dug under a river through soft earth, and is still in use today, as part of the London underground network. The museum is currently celebrating the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of young Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who helped design the tunnel with his father, Marc Brunel.
    Best exhibits There are display boards detailing the historical significance of the engine house, but to get the most out of it take one of the guided tours.
    Brunel Engine House, Railway Avenue, SE16 (7231 3840/www.brunelenginehouse.org.uk). Rotherhithe tube.

    Cartoon Museum
    Chortle your way round this amusing new museum, which displays British cartoons, caricatures, comics and animations. On the ground floor, snigger at time-honoured works by Hogarth and Gillray, WWII cartoons depicting Churchill and more recent subjects of satire: Bush and Blair. There’s an excellent selection of amusing books and cards in the shop, an extensive library and a regular cartooning workshops.
    Best exhibits Relive your youth on the upper gallery, where the comic strips on display include the Beano, 2000AD and Rupert.
    Cartoon Museum, 35 Little Russell St, WC1 (7580 8155/ www.cartooncentre.com). Russell Square tube.

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    Centre for the Magic Arts

    Centre for the Magic Arts
    The Magic Circle Museum has historic apparatus, memorabilia and posters as well as the largest collection of magic books in Europe. Appointment only.
    Centre for the Magic Arts, 12 Stephenson Way, NW1 2HD (www.themagiccircle.co.uk). Euston Sq tube. Appointment only.

    Charles Dickens Museum
    It’s easy to walk past the only surviving London house in which Dickens lived. You have to ring the doorbell to gain access to this unassuming townhouse with just a small plaque to mark it out from its neighbours. Inside, there are four floors of Dickens material, from posters advertising his public speaking to rare editions of his work, in a house decorated as it would have been during Dickens’s tenancy (1837-1839).
    Best exhibit A grille from the Marshalsea jail where Dickens’ father was imprisoned.
    Charles Dickens Museum, 48 Doughty St, WC1 (7405 2127/www.dickensmuseum.com). Chancery Lane or Russell Square tube.

    Churchill Museum
    It’s fitting that the man who had 300,000 people file past his coffin before his state funeral now has a museum dedicated to his life. The Churchill Museum is part of the Cabinet War Rooms, preserved to recreate the Cabinet meetings held below ground in WWII. Churchill’s extension explores both his childhood and career while his voice booms out those famous speeches.
    Best exhibit Churchill’s half-smoked cigars.
    Churchill Museum, Clive Steps, King Charles St, SW1 (7930 6961/www.churchillmuseum.iwm.org.uk). Westminster tube.

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30 comments

  1. Posted by CorbeauNoir on 25 Jun 2009 08:45

    Edgar West - It's not about 'vapid contemporary apology', it's about exhibiting objects with a better understanding of their significance. This is obviously more the case with anthropological objects than with anything involving natural history - the Victorians did a good job of physically acquiring objects but there was little if any genuine concern about their function or contemporary significance - it really was literally a 'treasure hunt'. With the prevalence of the internet being 'culturally poor' is becoming less and less of an issue (and in fact saying so is inaccurate - virtually all of the objects collected during the era of Empire are not 'British' at all, so it's not British culture that's being impovershed) , alterations in museums nowadays are made to convey that artifacts did - and still do - hold deep cultural importance as well as being beautiful, and this normally results in a need for compromise in display methods. Objects from natives here on the Northwest Coast are a great example of this - many of the masks they're world-famous for are in fact not meant to be seen unless being used for a dance, much less displayed openly behind glass. Hence you develop communication with the cultural owners of objects and as such alter display methods to enrich the functions of objects - instead of being permanently behind glass, natives might occasionally visit a museum and use those masks in ceremonial dances, for example.
    It can get very complicated, but the short of it is that those changes you witness are genuinely meant to enrich the functions of museum collections rather than 'sterilize' them as might be interpreted. In the simplest terms, we simply know more now than they did then. In any case, there are certainly many places that continue to pay homage to British Victorian eccentricity (in many ways a museum-worthy subject of preservation in its own right), most notably the Sloane Museum.
    I don't aim to berate you or anything like that, only to educate. I've been studying this kind of stuff a lot :)

  2. Posted by sam on 26 Feb 2009 11:36

    The Wallace Collection is a great art museum that is free and near bond st tube.

  3. Posted by Cath on 29 Jan 2009 14:24

    The Huntarian and Soane's museums are pretty much opposite each other, and a 20-25 min walk from the British Museum. They make a great combination as they are both really unusual but in totally different ways! Around Lincoln's Inn are lots of historic buildings (the Inns of Court and so on) plus the fields themselves are a pleasant place to eat lunch and have a fairly upmarket cafe/restaurant.
    They make a good combination for a day out in London and are themselves very close to Covent Garden for lunch/dinner.
    They are my favourite London museums!

  4. Posted by Roger on 26 Jan 2009 08:19

    I agree with Erik. The Museum of Brands and Packaging is well worth a visit. It is a view of social history over the past 100 years or so by reference to everyday items such as food packaging, advertising styles etc. Educational and nostalgic. www.museumofbrands.com

  5. Posted by Tracy Nash on 25 Jan 2009 13:55

    Horniman Museum
    Again took my niece there last summer and it was another museum she enjoyed, it has various exhibits, it also has lovely grounds to walk thru on a good day.. Has a basement fukllof aquariums, this museum is ideal for children as well as adult minds

  6. Posted by Erik on 24 Jan 2009 11:25

    the museum of brands and packaging is really cool and should be on this list. it's near notting hill tube and showcases food packaging from the turn of the century to present day.

  7. Posted by cara on 24 Jan 2009 11:00

    has anyone been to the Horniman Museum ?
    am intrigued to go today but don't want to be dissapointed...

  8. Posted by Rita Kleppmann on 23 Jan 2009 14:58

    I visited the Tea and Coffee Museum about a year ago and was seriously disappointed - too many exhibits (i.e. cramped), appalling lighting etc. I could have made a better job of it myself. I´m so glad they are refurbishing - the newly opened Museum can only be an improvement.

  9. Posted by John on 20 Jan 2009 18:33

    Unlike some of the rather well-known, much-visited museums included in this feature, a genuinely ‘unsung’ museum is the British Optical Association Museum at the College of Optometrists, a delightful Georgian building in Craven Street. Not only are its collections of vision aids, optician’s equipment and all things eye-related of international significance but because its displays are produced entirely in-house they avoid that ‘over-designed’ look that characterises and spoils so many wealthier museums these days. You won’t find a sign on the door and you must book in advance but if you pluck up the courage you’ll not only get a personal guided tour from a genuine expert (tailored to whatever time you have available) but you’ll thoroughly enjoy seeing some wonderful things, both serious and quirky…and all just a stone’s throw from Trafalgar Square. In fact, if you discount art galleries it’s the most centrally located museum in the entire capital and I bet most people don’t know it’s there!

  10. Posted by Tracy Nash on 20 Jan 2009 13:35

    V&A Museum of Childhood
    I took my 2yr old niece here last summer and she loved it, its is very accessible and not to huge that a smaller child would lose interest. I would reccommend it

  11. Posted by jess on 20 Jan 2009 10:41

    Can anyone give anymore information about the viv stanshall museum, i would love to go there and can't find any info about it?

  12. Posted by Aimee C on 18 Jan 2009 08:42

    I too have two more recommendations for those with inquisitive minds (seems like most Londoners do from these posts!). The Freud museum is a treat in Swiss Cottage/Finchley http://www.freud.org.uk/ and the Sir John Soan's museum in Holborn in well worth a visit (and it's free) http://www.soane.org/. Liking all the other recommendations - is there ever an end to the things you can do in London!

  13. Posted by kevin on 17 Jan 2009 16:07

    the petrie museum is a must if you love anything to do with egypt

  14. Posted by G on 17 Jan 2009 13:39

    The Viv Stanshall museum is fun up there in Finchley

  15. Posted by manchester city on 16 Jan 2009 19:39

    What a brilliant list for people visiting London, my son and I and a friend are coming to London for a short break in February and this is so informative thanks.

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