This summer the final countdown began for the Museum of London’s relocation to its new home, barely a ten-minute walk away in West Smithfield.
The main 150 London Wall site, which has housed the museum since 1976, will close as a visitor attraction on 4 December, and the new museum will open in 2026, with a new name: The London Museum. The Museum of London Docklands will remain open throughout (and will host a major new exhibition, Executions, from 14 October), but will be rebranded as The London Museum Docklands in January 2023.
Over in West Smithfield, The London Museum will occupy market buildings that have lain derelict for three decades but which are deeply associated with the capital’s working and commercial life. A team led by Stanton Williams and Asif Khan Studio, together with Julian Harrap Architects, has been spearheading the work, prioritising reusing and restoring the existing historic fabric while incorporating sympathetic modern features. They have already restored the market’s grand facades, and the project has also uncovered some surprising discoveries, including forgotten underground spaces – once the market’s cold stores – which will now be transformed into interactive exhibition rooms. Meanwhile, a boarded-up room proved to be a former Lockhart’s Temperance Cocoa Rooms – part of a chain of establishments linked to the Victorian temperance movement, which promoted the teetotal lifestyle. With its original tiles now restored, this space is set to be incorporated into the museum’s entrance.
