It is a well-known fact that London is not only home to a huge variety of museums and galleries but also to some of the best in the world – the British Museum and Natural History Museum to name a few.
Another such museum is the Museum of London. Known to cover the history of the capital from pre-historic to modern times with a particular focus on social history. The museum was formed in 1976 by consolidating the collection previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall Museum which was founded in 1826 and that of the London Museum which was founded in 1911.
From 1976 to 2022, the Museum of London was located on London Wall near the Barbican Centre and close to Farringdon, part of a redevelopment project from the 1960s and ’70s. In March 2015, plans were announced to relocate to the General Market Building at Smithfield, alluding to the difficulty visitors had finding the current site and the need for more display space.
The museum eventually closed its London Wall location in December 2022, with plans to reopen at Smithfield Market in 2026 and now the museum has officially changed it’s name to the London Museum.
The London Museum has the largest urban history collection in the world – with more than six million objects. Some of these date to prehistoric times and some more contemporary such as the Whitechapel fatberg and the Trump baby blimp.
The museum is part of a group that also includes the Museum of London Docklands, based in West India Quay which remains open to the public.
The name isn’t the only thing that’s changed – the logo of Dick Whittington and his cat has been replaced by a pigeon pooing glitter. Yep. Got to see it to believe it? Here you go.
To learn more about the rebrand, you can visit the London Museum’s website here.