Visiting London? The Museum of London, is one of the best museums in the UK and is free. (Part 1)
/A visit to the Museum of London will take you on a journey through time. There is a huge amount of beautifully displayed artefacts including the skulls of a cave bear and a lion as well as the tusk and tooth from a woolly mammoth. You can see and handle some of the tools that early man used in prehistoric London and see how pottery developed. Many examples of early man’s use of metal are on display as well as displays on Roman London. Models have been constructed to give you an idea of some of the bigger Roman buildings in London as well as the Globe theatre and the original St Paul’s Cathedral. The story of London goes through to modern times and to give you a deeper understanding of some of the things on display, several free short talks, amongst the exhibits, are given on a daily basis. So far we have only visited half of the museum because it was so interesting and comprehensive.
A large model of the “London Civic Centre” in Roman London from around 150AD. The forum in the middle and the basilica in the background formed the focal point of the city. The basilica was so big that it could be seen from all parts of the London. It housed London’s municipal offices whereas around the central courtyard of the forum were permanent shops and more offices.
Why go to the Museum of London?
You can see amazing objects from thousands of years of life in London, from a Mammoth tusk to a pilgrims badge representing a visit to St Thomas Becket’s tomb.
You can get up close to those objects and see their little details.
The displays are bright and informative.
There are rooms set out as though they were from a Roman villa placing Roman finds in context.
Several models are on display such as London’s Roman forum and Basilica as well as the original gothic St Paul’s Cathedral
What can I see at the Museum of London?
Above is a tusk and a jaw bone from a Wooly Mammoth.
You would not expect to see this creature walking around London. It is the skull of a Woolly Rhinoceros.
Above. Three more skulls from animals you would not associate with London. The top is a from a Cave Bear, the middle is from a Lion and the bottom is from an Auroch. An Auroch is a huge bull that would provide a vast amount of meat to the hunters. Apparently, there thousands of Auroch on the grass lands of Salisbury Plain. It has been suggested that the plentiful supply of Auroch meat was a reason for the Mesolithic and Neolithic (old and New Stone Age) people living on Salisbury Plain and siting Stonehenge there. It has even been suggested that they might have used Auroch’s like oxen to pull the various stones to their final resting place.
Above Mesolithic hand held stone axes and tools at the top and four replicas that you can touch.
Above left, Neolithic polished axes. You can see how much more sophisticated than the Mesolithic ones. Top right is a sickle for cutting corn. The Neolithic was the age of the first farmers and consequently, farming tools. Bottom left Neolithic pots and an axehead that has been hafted ie had a handle to hold the axe. Bottom right, Extremely well-crafted arrow heads.
Above. The Shepperton woman 35400 -3100 BC. It has been estimated that she was aged between 30-40 and she had worn down teeth. When they were closely examined, they possessed high levels of lead suggesting a childhood in the Mendips, Derbyshire or the Pennines.
Above.A hoard of bronze age tools dated 900-800 BC from the North Downs overlooking the Wandle Valley. It consisted of 43 socketed axes, 13 winged axes, 2 pieces of broken sword blade and 69 ingot fragments.
Above and below, more Bronze Age artefacts.
Above, an amazing cabinet full of Bronze Age swords.
Above an Iron Age knife in a wooden sheaf with bronze stripes.
Above. More Iron Age exhibits including slingshots and a replica sling (5), an axe-head (9), a sickle for cutting corn (7), iron and waste slag (a by product of making iron) from Brooklands near Weybridge (12), and a clay crucible for molten bronze (13).
Above, a beautiful set of coins depicting Emperor Hadrian AD 117-38.
Above, 4 coins showing the head of Emperor Vespasian AD69-79 and below, 4 more from Emperor Trajan AD 98-117.
Above putting some of the artefacts in context in a Roman kitchen and below what we would call a Roman “living room” with appropriate floor mosaic, painted wall decorations and replica furniture. You can see the opulence here with the beautiful mosaic floor and wall decorations together with the soft furnishings. What you cannot see is the underfloor heating (hypercaust) which kept inhabitants warm and cosy on those long winter nights. This beats living in an iron age round house with its dirt floor covered with straw.
In the photo above, you can see a model of the first bridge across the Thames. At low tide, in Roman times, the Thames was 300m across and at high tide a whopping 1000m! The bridge wood was “dendrochronologically” dated to 85-90 AD and had about 20 pier bases to hold it above the water. In the middle there was probably a drawbridge to allow sailing ships to pass.
Above. Mistakenly killed on the orders of Henry II, Archbishop Thomas Becket was placed in a tomb in Canterbury Cathedral and quickly became a saint. Apparently, various miracles were linked to Becket and people soon flocked to see his tomb. As a consequence, the souvenir trade developed for pilgrims and among the items purchased were representations of Becket. These badges were proof that their pilgrimage had been successful as well as simple souvenirs that we would even purchase today.
A mail shirt from the 1300s. This shirt is made up of thousands of rings riveted together and took a long time to make. As a consequence, it would have been expensive, far too much for the ordinary foot soldiers who would have to make do with a padded leather jacket. Seeing such a mail shirt on a dead person on a battlefield, a soldier might well have attempted to remove it to be sold to the highest bidder. In the Bayeux Tapestry, 200 years earlier, there are scenes of the dead having their mail shirts being ripped off them.
Above. On the left is a stone shield from London’s Guildhall showing Edward III’s royal arms after about 1340. In this period, he claimed the throne of France and as a consequence, he added the fleur-de-lis to his three lions of England.
Above, relics of the Wars of the Roses. At the top is Richard III’s boar badge and below is a badge representing the Talbot family. Richard III stated that Lady Eleanor Talbot was originally betrothed to Edward IV and thus the “Princes in the Tower” were illegitimate, this betrothal making his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville null and void. Illegitimate children cannot claim the throne of England and so was Richard’s key reason for claiming the throne
Above. Around 1500 Henry VII paid for the Savoy hospital to house 100 homeless men. To ensure that the men knew their benefactor, the coverlets on their beds had an embroidered Tudor Rose and all the wardens wore either a Tudor Rose badge and/or a Tudor portcullis.
Above. In this photo you can see some woollen stockings that were worn by everyone, men and women. Apparently, the average person wore out two pairs a year. To lengthen the life of the stockings, holes that appeared were darned (patched). Next to the stockings you can see a wooden patten, worn under shoes to raise them above wet surroundings because shoes back then were not waterproof.
Above. Weapons and armour from the 1300s to the 1500s. The rather small shield is known as a “buckler” and was used to parry blows in battles and when practising. “Sword and buckler fights” were also a spectator sport.
Above. . A model of the original St Paul’s Cathedral that was destroyed in the “Great Fire of London” in 1665. Construction began in 1087 and took 200 years to complete. When this magnificent building was finished, it was one of the longest churches in the world and had one of the highest spires. What you may not know is that several printers were based in the surrounding area and they used to store their valuable master copies in a vault in St Paul’s. Their logic was that fires were regular occurrences and the safest place for master copies would be in a vault in St Paul’s. Unfortunately, they were wrong and possibly numerous plays by William Shakespeare and others, along with books, were totally destroyed in the Great Fire. We simply do not know what disappeared that terrible night
Essential information
Getting there
By tube
Barbican underground station (5 minute walk)
St Paul's underground station 5 minute walk)
By Bus
Bus numbers 4, 8, 25, 56, 100, 172, 242, 388, 521
Address
Museum of London, 150 London Wall, EC2Y 5HN
Entry tickets
Entry is free but it is a good idea to book tickets for guaranteed entry. Click here for booking
