We’ve pointed out before that London seems to have an unexpected tiny museum around every second corner, and that if all you want is a museum then you almost might as well just start walking until you bump into one. If you want a museum about London, instead of just in London, though, the Museum of London is the place to go. A few minutes walk to the south of the Barbican, or ten minutes’ walk north of St Paul’s, right by the remains of the Roman wall that encircled the city thousands of years ago, it’s even in the perfect location for a museum about London (though admittedly it’s a slightly ugly building by present-day standards).
(Picture by homemade.)
Usually the Museum of London covers everything from the local area in prehistoric times (”London before London”) through nineteenth century dresses to recent social history and photographs. At the moment, however, half the museum is shut down for major refurbishments, and history only reaches as far as the early seventeenth century. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, particularly if you’re interested in ancient or mediaeval London; for a start, it gives you time to look over all the exhibits without falling prey to the dreaded Museum Fatigue.
Another benefit is that the Museum seems to be trying particularly hard to make up for its closed exhibits. There’s a special exhibition on the Fire of London, with a replica seventeenth-century firefighter’s helmet to try on, and the story of a woman who escaped the fire only to be attacked by fellow Londoners when they mistook her chickens (which she’d saved from the flames and brought with her in her apron) for fireballs. There’s a smaller exhibition on “the ways in which the people of the Indian subcontinent have shaped London” in the foyer. There’s tours, lectures, and talks. And there’s… er… comedy.
Yes, comedy. This Thursday, as part of the excellent Time Out First Thursdays programme, the Museum of London is opening late, with all the usual galleries open, and with something extra as well: nine stand-up comedians lurking in three different corners of the museum, being funny. The comedians include Sarah Kendall, Simon Munnery, Richard Herring and Joanna Neary, and it’s organised by Laughter in Odd Places, who put on comedy in a different odd place every month.
The Museum of London: London Wall, EC2Y 5HN. Monday to Saturday, 10am-5.50pm. Sunday, 12pm-5.50pm. Free.
Laughter in Odd Places: The Museum of London, Thursday 5 July, 6pm-9pm. Free.
