The old Museum of London has moved into a restored Victorian market, and the permanent galleries cost nothing to enter.
LONDON, England (UK London Info) – London is about to get a very large new reason to visit, and it is free. The city’s flagship history museum, formerly known as the Museum of London, has moved into a restored Victorian market building at Smithfield, and the doors open later this month. If you are planning a trip for the winter, here is what the sources say, what they do not, and how to fit it into your days.
When it opens, what it costs and how to get there
The new London Museum opens on Saturday 28 November, at the General Market, West Smithfield, postcode EC1A 9PS. Visit London’s announcement, dated 22 June, describes the permanent galleries as free, and Time Out London’s report from 18 June calls them new free permanent galleries, timed to the museum’s 50th anniversary. An August guide from London x London lists the price as free too, and links to the museum’s own Smithfield page for tickets.
Here is the honest caveat. None of the pages I read states opening hours. Some do not say whether you need to reserve a timed slot even for free entry, and the sources do not explain what is charged for events or temporary exhibitions. Look at the museum’s official Smithfield page before you go, particularly if you are travelling on the opening weekend, when I would expect keen locals to turn up in force.
Visit London names Farringdon as the nearest station, served by the Circle, Elizabeth, Hammersmith and City, and Metropolitan lines. Londontopia’s guide gives Farringdon (Underground and Elizabeth line) and Barbican as the nearest options. Check TfL’s journey planner on the day for closures, because weekend engineering works can change which lines run.
What is inside: three spaces with unusual names
The museum is laid out as three linked spaces, according to Attractions Management, which published the opening date on 19 June.
- Real Time: the entrance, a former covered street that shows live data about London as it happens.
- Our Time: a social hub beneath the restored dome, with 13 large installations about London in living memory, plus events and activities.
- Past Time: the underground galleries, which hold the permanent collection of London’s history, down at Roman street level.
The same article says the move completes the restoration of the Victorian General Market and returns the long-disused building to public use for the first time in more than 30 years. The project is described as a 437 million pound scheme, backed by the City of London Corporation and the Mayor of London, alongside philanthropic funders. The old London Wall site closed in December 2022, so this is a long-awaited homecoming for a museum that has been between addresses for a while.
The objects worth a detour
The collection is said to hold about seven million objects, and the sources point to a lively set of highlights. Charles I’s silk vest, worn at his execution in 1649, is the headline grabber. Others named across the guides include Queen Victoria’s mourning dress, Charles Dickens’ chair, Emmeline Pankhurst’s hunger strike medal, Banksy’s Piranhas, Tom Daley’s London 2012 diving trunks, the Lord Mayor’s Coach and Syd’s Coffee Stall. The Cheapside Hoard jewellery gets its own Goldsmiths’ Gallery, according to Londontopia, and London x London also names the Whitechapel Fatberg, which is every bit as glamorous as it sounds.
My favourite touch is a six-metre window onto working Thameslink trains. A museum about a city that never stops moving has decided that the best exhibit is the city moving past the glass. Londontopia also reports the Fender bass from the cover of The Clash’s London Calling album.
Events, evenings and the longer view
London x London mentions a Tuesday Tea Club and Shared Late Nights, while Londontopia adds dinner clubs and family playdates. Neither source gives prices or booking rules for these, so treat them as things to check. The opening season, called London Tastes, is reported to run until August 2027, which is helpful if your trip is later in the winter or in the new year. A second phase in the adjacent Poultry Market, with temporary exhibition space, a learning centre and a collections store, is due in 2028.
How to fit it into a London day
Because the permanent galleries are free, this is an easy anchor for a wet-weather day. Go early, do the underground history galleries first, then come up to the dome for the modern London installations. If you have limited time, aim for the vest, the jewellery and the train window and call it a win. I would leave a gap afterwards for somewhere warm to eat, since the sources do not describe the food offer in detail beyond Time Out mentioning a restaurant and a shop in the central hub.
A tip for the comedy-minded
If museum fatigue sets in, The London Prat has plenty of reading, and you can find more of my London visitor guides at The London Prat. Its English humor news section is a good palate cleanser, and what comedy commentary is and is not explains the difference between a joke and a report. For something lighter still, there is Britain’s answer to the Onion and the wider Bohiney Magazine archive.
The key facts are simple: Smithfield, free permanent galleries, Farringdon station, 28 November. Everything else, please check on the museum’s own website first, then go and meet a very old vest.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/