Museums and Galleries

Bank of England Museum    Photo Supplied by FreeFoto.com 

The Bank of England was founded in 1694.  Its primary purpose was to act as the Government's banker and debt-manager.  Since its beginning, the bank's role has centered on the management of the nation's currency and its position at the centre of the UK's financial system.

The Bank's Museum provides a unique insight into the history of the Bank and its business along with a vast amount of information about the bank today.

The Bank of England is the centra bank of the United Kingdom and is sometimes known as the "Old Lady" of Threadneedle Street.

Website:  Bank of England Museum

email:  museum@bankofenglandand.co.uk

phone:  020 7601 5545

Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood

The Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood's mission is to encourage everyone to explore the themes of past and present childhood and to develop an appreciation of creative design through inspirational collections and programs.  The museum is part of the V&A family of museums and houses the national childhood collection.  The museum offers a dynamic program of temporary exhibitions, daily activities and seasonal events, excellent education program with teaching sessions and resources linked directly to the National Curriculum.  The museum has a strong commitment to cultural diversity and social inclusion.

Website:  Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood

The British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest libraries.

Treasures include:

• Magna Carta
• Lindisfarne Gospels
• Leonardo da Vinci's Notebook
• The Times first edition from 18 March 1788
• Beatles manuscripts
• The recording of Nelson Mandela's trail speech

The building at St Pancreas is:

• The largest public building constructed in the UK in the 20th century
• The basements extend to a depth of 24.5 metres
• A total floor area of over 112,000 sq metres spread over 14 floors - 9 above ground, 5 below
• 10 million bricks and 180,000 tonnes of concreate were needed to complete the building

The buildings at Boston Spa are:

• Originally an ordinance factory
• Specifically designed for document delivery service processes
• Over 100km of shelving housing a collection devoted to interlibrary loan

Website:  The British Library

The British Museum

The Museum was first housed in a seventeenth-century mansion, Montagu House, in Bloomsbury on the site of today's building.  On January 15, 1759 the British Museum opened to the public.  With the exception of two World Wars, when parts of the collection were evacuated, it has remained open ever since.  There has been a gradual increase of opening hours.  The Britist Museum receives nearly 5 million visitors per year.

From the beginning the Britis Museum was a new type of institution.  It is governed by a body of Trustees responsible to Parliament.  Its collections belong to the nation.  Free admission.  Entry given to all studious and curious persons who link public enjoyment with education.

Website:  The British Museum

Churchil and Cabinet War Rooms

The Churchill Museum is the world's first major museum dedicated to the life of Winston Churchill.  It is a permanent exhibition housed within the unique setting of the historic Cabinet War Rooms.  An entry ticket admits visitors to the Cabinet War Rooms and the Churchill Museum.

Website:  Churchil and Cabinet War Rooms

The Clink Prison Museum

The Clockmakers' Museum

The Clockmakers'Company is an active City of London craft guild or "Livery Company."  It was founded under a Royal Charter of King Charles I in 1631.  Its original purpose was to regulate and encourage the "art and mystery" of watch and clock making together with many related skills, such as engraving, sundial making and mathematical instrument making.

Website:  The Clockmakers' Museum

Courtauld Gallery

The courtauld Gallery of Art is one of the world's leading institutes for teaching and research in the history of art and conservation and was awared a 5* grade in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise.  It is unique in that it houses world famous collections of paintings, prints and drawings in its Gallery and also manages the Hermitage Rooms.

Website:  Courtauld Gallery

Florence Nightingale Museum

Florence Nightingale was a legend in her lifetime.  The Crimean War years made her famous, but were just two years out of life of ninety years.

Florence Nightingale was born in Italy May 12, 1820.  She was named after the city where she was born.  Her parents were wealthy and toured Europe for two years on their honeymoon.

Florence was interested in the social questions of the day.  She made visits to the home of the sick in the local villages and began to investigate hospitals and nursing.  Her parents refused to allow her to become a nurse.  A nursing career in the mid-nineteenth century was not considered a suitable profession for a well educated woman.

Florence Nightingale's greatest achievement was to raise nursing to the level of a respectalbe profession for women.  In 1860 she established the Nightingale Training School for nurses at St Thomas' Hospital.

The Museum's Collection

A collection of artefacts and other material connected with Florence Nightingale has been preserved and transferred from the St. Thomas' Hospital and the Nightingale Training School to The Florence Nightingale Museum Trust in 1984.

Website:  The Florence Nightingale Museum

Geffrye Museum

The Geffrye Museum is one of London's best-loved museums presenting the changing style of the English domestic interior in a series of period rooms from 1600 to the present day.

Website:  Geffrey Museum