Tuesday, January 03, 2006
I SPY LONDON
the definitive DG guide to London's sights-worth-seeing
Part 1: The Museum of London (part 2 free tomorrow)
Location: London Wall, Barbican EC2Y 5HN [map]
Open: 10am - 5:50pm (opens 12 noon Sundays)
Admission: free
5-word summary: London, from prehistory to Empire
Website: www.museumoflondon.org.uk
Time to set aside: an afternoon
It may be London's museum, but I bet only a tiny minority of Londoners have ever visited. Maybe that's because it's not an easy building to find, tucked away above a roundabout in one of the bleaker corners of the City. But negotiate the secluded escalators in the shadow of the Barbican and you'll discover a fascinating slice of London's history. It's all here, from artefacts thrown into the prehistoric Thames to a Suffragette thrown in front of the King's horse, and several centuries of ephemera inbetween. Highlights of the collection include marble sculptures from a Roman temple, hoards of medieval jewellery and the Lord Mayor's coach, and if you're lucky you might even get to watch archaeologists at work. Children (when not being force-fed hands-on history by well-meaning parents) will lap up Victorian Walk, a full scale recreation of period shop fronts with well-stocked windows and authentic sounds. Along with several adult visitors I kept stopping to peer at all the historic maps scattered around the museum (look, where I live used to be a tiny village, and before that it was beneath the Thames). One of the galleries usually hosts a special capital-related exhibition, and the museum shop probably has the best selection of London-related books anywhere in the capital.
by tube: St Paul's, Barbican, by bus: 4, 56, 100
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I SPY LONDON
It may be London's museum, but I bet only a tiny minority of Londoners have ever visited. Maybe that's because it's not an easy building to find, tucked away above a roundabout in one of the bleaker corners of the City. But negotiate the secluded escalators in the shadow of the Barbican and you'll discover a fascinating slice of London's history. It's all here, from artefacts thrown into the prehistoric Thames to a Suffragette thrown in front of the King's horse, and several centuries of ephemera inbetween. Highlights of the collection include marble sculptures from a Roman temple, hoards of medieval jewellery and the Lord Mayor's coach, and if you're lucky you might even get to watch archaeologists at work. Children (when not being force-fed hands-on history by well-meaning parents) will lap up 
