London Museum

The London Museum traces London’s story from prehistoric times to the present, focusing on the lives of its people. It stands in the City of London, a short walk from the Barbican Centre on London Wall. The museum grew from two older collections: the Guildhall Museum, founded in 1826, and the London Museum, opened in 1912 at Kensington Palace. Its holdings include more than six million objects, the largest urban history collection in the world. Among them are flint handaxes from the Thames Valley, marble statues from the Roman London Mithraeum, and the Cheapside Hoard of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewellery. Modern displays feature clothing, costumes, paintings, prints, and oral histories. Recent additions show how Londoners live today, such as the Whitechapel fatberg and the Trump baby blimp. The museum also runs two other sites: London Museum Docklands in West India Quay and the Museum of London Archaeological Archive at Mortimer Wheeler House. Sharon Ament has led the museum since becoming director. When it reopens in 2026 at Smithfield Market, visitors will see a far larger share of the collection than before.