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London Museum, No1 Warehouse, West India Quay, London (2025)

20/03/2025

Happy Spring Equinox! 🌱

To celebrate the changing of the seasons, we're taking a look at London's folk traditions.

From Straw Jack parades to Druid rituals, the capital's cultural calendar is a rainbow of obscure customs, rituals and ceremonies.

See more here: https://bit.ly/4hj4jBa

1️⃣ Deptford Jack-in-the-Green, 2016
2️⃣ Beating the bounds, Ascension (40th day of Easter)
3️⃣ The Druid Order dressed in their white robes celebrate the Spring Equinox at Tower Hill in the City of London, 1996
All courtesy of ©️ alamy.

15/03/2025

"Beware the Ides of March!"

Or was it:

"Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!"?

We never could quite remember 😉

Either way, on this day, 15 March 44 BC, Julius Caesar came to a grisly end when he was stabbed to death by a group of Roman senators.

This silver denarius coin, found on the site of Temple House in the City of London, depicts Caesar in his trademark Laureate wreath crown. The reverse shows two military standards, a plough and a sceptre.

Dig into more fascinating Roman history here: https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/time-periods/roman/

14/03/2025

Do you remember Edna hairdressers in Battersea? We'd love to hear your memories if so!

Edna's was based at 230 Battersea Park Road; you can see the salon on the left of this photo, next to Harmsworth Upholsterers.

Did you live in the area? Or know someone who does? Please share this post far and wide so we can get the word out and, hopefully, find out more about Edna 💇

You can also drop us a note with your memories here: [email protected]

Thank you 🙂

📷 Edna hairdresser - 230-232 Battersea Park Road SW11, 30 April 1979. ©️ Wandsworth Heritage Service.

10/03/2025

Victoria - a station of two halves 🚂

In the mid-19th century, the south of England was linked to London by rail, but only as far as the south bank of the Thames.

That changed when two rail companies pooled resources to extend an existing trainline across the Thames to reach London’s west.

But while there was a single, 14-acre site for the new station, the train companies each designed and built their own terminus.

The London Brighton and South Coast Railway building opened first in 1860, along with the western span of the Grosvenor Railway Bridge. Designed by John Fowler, this was the first railway bridge to cross the Thames into central London.

Two years later, in 1862, the London Chatham and Dover Railway opened its building and the eastern span of the bridge.

The station buildings were little more than wooden huts for the first 40 years. Both were eventually given significant upgrades in the early 20th century, while the bridges were rebuilt in the 1960s.

In 1923, Southern Railway took over both companies and set about unifying the two buildings. But to this day each side retains a distinct feel.

Further connections followed, and the station played host to important historic events. Find out more here: https://bit.ly/3Du8RXu

08/03/2025

From west London to the world stage.

Wembley Stadium, 31 July 2022. It’s all level in the Euros final as England and Germany have one goal apiece... until Chloe Kelly toes the ball into the back of the net. England win their first major football tournament since 1966.

Kelly grew up playing football with her five older brothers at the cage on Southall’s Windmill Park Estate, one of the many enclosed pitches you’d find across the city. The physicality and non-stop intensity of cage football shaped Kelly’s playing style: fast, agile, strong on the ball.

In 2021, a serious injury to the ACL in her knee led to a long 11-month recovery period off the pitch where she had to relearn how to walk, but soon enough she'd be back on the pitch to make history.

Her penalty against Nigeria in the round-of-16 shootout was almost 111km/h – more powerful than any strike of the 2022/2023 Premier League campaign.

Happy !

📷 ©️ Courtesy of alamy.com
📷 ©️ Courtesy of alamy.com
📷 ©️ Courtesy of alamy.com

06/03/2025

One month to go! Unearth over 350 fascinating objects and stories from London's rich past in the UK's first major exhibition dedicated to mudlarking.

What will you discover?

Book now: https://bit.ly/41GyKfU

04/03/2025

Ever heard of a pancake greaze?

This unique tradition at Westminster School sounds flippin' good fun...

The school cook makes a substantial pancake which they take in a frying-pan to the school hall, and toss across the room. In a mad scramble, representatives from each form in the school try to grab hold of a piece of the pancake, and whoever succeeds in getting the largest piece wins.

This tradition has been in existence since at least the mid-18th century when Jeremy Bentham mentioned it.

What are your pancake day traditions?

📷 ©️ Courtesy of alamy

03/03/2025

The forty elephants, south London's supreme shoplifters 😯

As long as there have been shops, there’ve been shoplifters. But the Forty Elephants were on another level.

This all-women working-class gang ran a huge, slickly organised shoplifting operation from South London. Active mostly between the 1870s and 1950s, they’d dress like film stars in furs and expensive jewellery then steal items from department stores to sell for a profit.

The Forties were mostly based in Elephant and Castle in Lambeth, which could explain why the gang was given their name. Many of them were the partners or relatives of the Elephant and Castle Gang, a long-running male criminal organisation who operated out of the old Elephant and Castle Tavern.

To find out more about "the cleverest shoplifters in the country", who they were and how they did it, click here: https://bit.ly/4ijNoPZ

03/03/2025

This week's mystery object has got us all of a flutter! 🦋

It was purchased for one penny (1d) from a London street trader on 14 January 1904.

It's made of wood and tin, and measures 9cm wide by 3cm deep.

But what is it?

28/02/2025

One of London’s most widely recognised landmarks, St Paul's Cathedral is bursting at the cloisters with fascinating historical facts ⛪

Did you know, for example, that it survived German bombing during The Blitz, but had to be rebuilt (famously, by Christopher Wren) after the Great Fire in 1666?

Or that it's hosted several high-profile funeral services, from Horatio Nelson to Margaret Thatcher, and was the wedding venue for Prince Charles and Diana Spencer?

It’s a place of particular architectural and historical significance. The backdrop to many of London’s major events. A sanctuary of Christianity. And a major tourist attraction.

Find out more about this enduring monument here: https://bit.ly/43cabsD

1. A view of Ludgate Circus and St Paul's Cathedral, c. 1905, by Christina Broom
2. Bombsite near St Paul's Cathedral, 1953-04, ©️ Henry Grant
3. The view from Ludgate Circus looking up Ludgate Hill towards St. Paul's Cathedral, 1962-06, ©️ Henry Grant
4. St Paul's Cathedral. Courtesy of alamy.com

25/02/2025

How one mother-son mudlarking duo struck gold ✨

"We’re all familiar with the chocolate money populating the Christmas stockings of small children: sweet treats wrapped in shiny gold foil masquerading as mint condition coins. As I scoured the Thames foreshore, one day in the early 2000s, that’s what appeared to be staring up at me – a coin too pristine and too perfect to be real.

If it wasn’t chocolate, perhaps it was one of those replicas you can buy in a museum shop.

But as I leant forward and plucked the coin from the mud, its weight was unmistakable – gold!"

From child hobbyist to Thames mudlark society Chair, Tim Miller shares his journey of riverside treasure hunting – including a gleaming Roman gold coin discovery: https://bit.ly/3ERROPw

1️⃣ The gold Roman coin of Emperor Diocletian.
2️⃣ Tim’s mother Pamela mudlarking and digging with full gusto on the Thames foreshore, 1989.
3️⃣ The only picture from the pre-selfie era of a young Tim Miller mudlarking, about 2005.

24/02/2025

Did you know that the first British wine was made in north London? 🍇

Broken wine containers found in in the grounds of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital on Brockley Hill, Stanmore point to wine being made there in the 1st century CE.

Imported wine was drunk in Britain before this date, but it wasn’t until the Romans arrived that vineyards began to sprout.

Unlike today’s award-winning English sparkling wines, which now rival French Champagne, the winemakers in Brockley Hill couldn’t match the fine wines produced elsewhere in the Roman empire.

Their experiment failed after just a couple of decades. But the evidence they left behind shows how Roman culture shaped the area.

Find out more about how wine came to be made near Londinium: https://bit.ly/3ENkfOy

23/02/2025

“Lord! How empty the streets are and how melancholy, so many poor sick people in the streets full of sores… in Westminster, there is never a physician and but one apothecary left, all being dead.”

Renowned for his diary which captured major historical events including the 1665 Great Plague, Samuel Pepys was born on this day, 23 February 1633.

And, while his diary gives an insight into 17th-century London life, one of Pepys' personal possessions that we hold in our collection tells us much more about the man himself...

Read on: https://bit.ly/3EOhAEm

19/02/2025

The critical success of The Brutalist has once again thrust London's divisive post-war architecture into the spotlight 🌇

It's the style that Londoners love to debate. When you think of iconic buildings like the Barbican, National Theatre and the Brunswick Centre, do you think eye-catching or eyesore?

Take a wander through the city's concrete jungle here: https://bit.ly/4i2gUJD

1️⃣ National Theatre by Denys Lasdun
2️⃣ Barbican by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon
3️⃣ Brunswick Centre by Patrick Hodgkinson

17/02/2025

Why was this Stone Age skull fragment found in the River Thames? 🌊

Uncovered by a mudlark in 2018 while searching the shore, it’s an extremely rare find.

The concerned mudlark first contacted the Metropolitan Police – as is required whenever human remains are discovered.

Detectives searched the area and, not knowing how old this fragment was, began an investigation.

Radiocarbon dating soon revealed that, remarkably, the bone dated back to the Neolithic period. The police then donated it to us.

The radiocarbon dating showed the bone is about 5,600 years old – so, from around 3,600 BCE.

But why was it there? Was it an offering? Or had the changing course of the river washed over early settlements and delivered it downstream?

Discover more about this fascinating find here: https://bit.ly/3X5T7AG

16/02/2025

We’ve snapped up an iconic London landmark!

Last summer, Banksy’s animal themed series splashed down in London with this incredible piranha artwork, painted on a City of London Police Box. Soon you’ll be able to enjoy this iconic artwork up close at our new home in Smithfield after it was kindly gifted to us from City of London Corporation: City View

Keep your eyes peeled 👀

14/02/2025

A very pretty penny 💘

In Britain, the practice of giving ‘love tokens’ has been around from at least Roman times – if not much earlier.

Mudlarking expeditions on the Thames’ foreshore have often uncovered bent or bowed coins from 16th century onwards.

Even though clipping, defacement and other wilful damage of coins was a treasonable offense, it didn’t always deter ardent lovers.

It's suspected that many of the ‘crooked coins’ found on the banks of the River Thames – most surviving ones are the 17th and 18th centuries – carry legacies of unrequited love.

Often, the head of the monarch would be rubbed clean and initials of the giver or/and the intended would be engraved. Some of those accepted would even be worn as a pendant or incorporated into jewellery to be worn close to one’s person.

This particular token - a worn silver sixpence of William III found by mudlark Caroline Nunneley - will be on display in our upcoming major exhibition Secrets of the Thames: Mudlarking London's lost treasures, which opens on Friday 4 April.

13/02/2025

Psst! Secrets of the Thames is now on sale! 🌊 💍 ⚱️ 🗡️

Take a first look at five of the fascinating finds you'll be able to see in our upcoming major exhibition at London Museum Docklands:

1. A Victorian pilgrim badge, but with a difference...

2. Finders keepers: one of the three intriguing sculptures by artist Billie Bond

3. Memento mori: a moving representation of the duality of life and death

4. Osmund’s knife: but who was Osmund?

5. A Roman intaglio used as a seal here in London, 1,800 years ago

Secrets of the Thames: Mudlarking London's lost treasures opens on Friday 4 April.

Book now: https://bit.ly/4hPRleO

Stories of forgeries, faith and ancient battles - 5 must-see highlights from Secrets of the Thames exhibition: https://bit.ly/4jU39yA

08/02/2025

One of the most influential bands to come out of London in the 1970s 🎸

The Clash reflected what was going on around them in their songs. Their music drew on a broad spectrum of the sounds of the capital, including reggae, dub, jazz, rhythm and blues, rockabilly and pop.

And their lyrics honed in on the political and social landscape in London and across Britain, commenting on racism, heavy-handed policing and the struggling economy.

In much of their discography, London was the lens through which they explored their musical world.

On International Clash Day, we take a deep dive into the story of the band, journeying from west London squats to iconic music venues like the 100 Club and Hammersmith Palais: https://bit.ly/3Q85s3j

1. The Clash - London Calling, 1979 double album on CBS Records, courtesy of alamy.
2. The Clash at Brixton Academy London in 1980, courtesy of alamy.

06/02/2025

A vote for change 🗳️

On this day in 1918, after decades of campaigning, some women finally won the right to vote.

But the new rules continued to discriminate against women, with only 40% of Britain's female population allowed to vote at the 1918 general election.

Women had to be over the age of 30 and either:

- a property owner
- a graduate voting in a university constituency
- a member or married to a member of the local government register (which lists who can vote in local elections)

Many of the 1,300 women who went to prison battling for the right to vote were still too young to vote in 1918.

In 1918, government minister Lord Cecil admitted in Parliament that the age limit was introduced to prevent women from being the political majority:

“That is the reason why the age limit of 30 was introduced… for fear they [women] might be in a majority in the electorate of this country."

But how did the women vote that year? And how did the Suffragettes continue their struggle for equality? Read on to find out: https://bit.ly/4jJSTJb

03/02/2025

This copper alloy object was found in the Thames at Richmond Lock and Weir on 19 January 1892. It measures 116mm long by 52mm wide, overall. But what is it? 🤔

Let us know your thoughts below!

31/01/2025

London Docks opened in Wapping on this day in 1805 🏗️

Endless barrels of wine, bundles of to***co and crates of tea were unloaded, stacked and sampled here.

Much of it arrived from the British empire, while the construction of the docks themselves was partly funded with profits from the British trade in enslaved Africans.

In the 1960s, the shipping industry left London.

But what came next?

Follow us as we take a look at the history of one of London’s first enclosed docks: https://bit.ly/40UdJy3

📷 Landing casks of sherry on to electric trucks with the aid of mobile cranes, wine gauging ground, London Dock, 1961. Museum of London Docklands Archive.

©London Museum

30/01/2025

“Compelled from utter destitution to seek for the means of appeasing their hunger in the mud of the river”.

Once a way to survive extreme poverty, mudlarking is now a hobby that helps to tell us London's deep history.

So where did mudlarking start?

In the 18th and 19th centuries, poor Londoners sold scraps they found on the foreshore to earn any money they could and became known as mudlarks.

They were looking for lumps of coal, rope, bones, iron or copper – anything that could be sold. The treacherous mud and fast tides made it a dangerous activity and centuries ago, the Thames was far more polluted than it is today.

Now mudlarks play an important role in preserving the city’s past. We have worked with the mudlarks since the 1970s to document the changing Thames foreshore and to record their finds.

From Bronze Aged swords to Roman glass jewels and ancient human skeletal remains, all sorts of intriguing objects have been found across the River Thames.

Click the link to find out more: https://bit.ly/4glGjwT

Please note: You must have a permit from the PLA in order to go mudlarking.

📷 ©London Museum / John Chase / 2024
✏️ Mudlark illustration from Henry Mayhew / London Labour and the London Poor / ©London Museum
📷 ©London Museum / John Chase / 2024
📷 ©London Museum / John Chase / 2024

27/01/2025

It’s late January in London, and the cold, damp air is punctuated by hundreds of suspended red lanterns that sway to the beat of rhythmic drumming 🏮

Crowds of people surge through the streets of Chinatown, hoping to catch a glimpse of the mystical lion.

In the shop doorways, red packets known as ‘ang pao’ hang alongside whole heads of Chinese lettuce, waiting to be gobbled up by the hungry creature to symbolise good luck and prosperity for the year ahead.

It’s a typical scene in London during Lunar New Year, which begins on the first day of the first lunar month in the calendar and ends on the 15th day...

Suyin Haynes and her mother Linda reflect on how Chinese-Malaysian traditions have blended with British culture for Lunar New Year celebrations in London: https://bit.ly/3CzkX0W

📷 Linda Haynes holds fried dumplings, courtesy of Suyin Haynes
📷 Chinatown in London, courtesy of Bruno Martins / Unsplash
📷 Linda Haynes' family at home in Penang, Malaysia
📷 New Year Dim Sum

23/01/2025

Famed for The Dying Swan (and a certain meringue dessert), Anna Pavlova is one of the best-known ballet dancers of all time 💃

But did you know that London was the place that she liked to call home?

Pavlova, who was born into poverty in St Petersburg, Russia in 1881, made her public London debut at the Palace Theatre in 1910.

She became an overnight star.

In 1912, Pavlova bought the Ivy House in Golders Green, next to Hampstead Heath. She settled here permanently after the Russian Revolution of 1917.

She continued to perform regularly in London at theatres like Princes Theatre, Queens Hall and the Royal Opera House.

Pavlova toured relentlessly beyond the UK, too.

She danced in major cities as well as small-town venues where ballet was unknown.

But it was travelling on yet another tour where Pavlova contracted pneumonia, an infection of the lungs. She tragically died at a hotel in the Netherlands on this day, 23 January 1931.

Even after her death, her reputation continued to flourish. Read more about the prima ballerina's remarkable life - and her stunning swan costume in our collection - here: https://bit.ly/3PJUUY0

📷 Portrait of Anna Pavlova, 1912-31

📷 Anna Pavlova posed in costume for 'Le Cygne' (The Dying Swan)

📷 Pavlova at home with her pet swans in her Hampstead garden – one of which was called Jack

©London Museum

21/01/2025

The fairy-tale frock that turned a princess into a fashion icon ✨

This extraordinary ballgown now sits in our collection, but was once the talk of the town.

On 21 November 1951, Princess Margaret attended a charity ball in Paris as guest of honour. The princess knew she would be the centre of attention, and that her appearance would come under scrutiny.

Luckily, she already owned the perfect dress for the occasion 👗

Made by one of the greatest fashion designers of the 20th century, Christian Dior, the gown dazzled with rhinestone, mother of pearl and sequin embellishments. The voluminous skirt, made with seven layers of silk, net and organza, to fit a 22.5in waist(!), completed the Princess's Cinderella look.

The dress was a triumph, and Margaret remained a Dior client almost to the end of her life, moving from couture to ready-to-wear.

On the 120th anniversary of Christian Dior's birth (21 January 1905), read more about this glamorous, career-defining gown: https://bit.ly/40lGF0x

19/01/2025

On this day, 19 January 1917, Londoners witnessed the city's largest ever explosion.

The Silvertown explosion in east London came while Britain was fighting the First World War, and many jumped to blame their enemy. London had already been attacked by air, with German zeppelins dropping bombs between 1915 and 1917.

The truth was harder to take – this was a tragic and preventable accident.

Just before 7pm, a fire started at Brunner Mond & Co, a factory refining TNT for use in the First World War. The fire caused 50 tonnes of high explosives to detonate.

A large part of the factory was instantly destroyed, together with nearby grain stores and 900 local homes. A total of 60,000–70,000 buildings were damaged, as flaming debris caused fires for miles around.

73 people died and over 400 were injured – including many children. Tug boats at the docks ferried injured people to hospital.

Fires could be seen as far away as Guildford. Shockwaves were reported in Norfolk and Southampton. And despite the efforts of over 100 firefighters, fires continued to burn for more than a week afterwards.

It wasn't the only disaster of this type during the First World War...

Read on for more on the Silvertown explosion, made vivid thanks to the photos of John H Avery, which are part of the PLA () Archive at London Museum: https://bit.ly/4hyNx1F

17/01/2025

On 18 January 1981, a fire at a house party in New Cross, south-east London, killed 13 young Black people. The youngest was 14 years old. More than 50 were injured.

Many suspected a racist attack, but nobody has ever been charged.

On the 44th anniversary, we take a look back at the tragic event that became a catalyst for the Brixton Uprising: https://bit.ly/3DUdIRR

13/01/2025

On an August evening in 1916, a 75-year-old man in a large beret stepped out onto a dark Thames footpath, struggling under the weight of a heavy wooden box.

TJ Cobden-Sanderson, a printer and bookbinder, was on a mission: to destroy his life's work...

He walked down a narrow passageway to Hammersmith Bridge and, concealed under the cover of darkness, quietly dumped trays of metal type into the murky Thames water.

For 97 years, the type lay at the bottom of the Thames, hidden among the gravel and silt. Until, in 2014, the once-obsolete font was recovered. In part.

The story of Cobden-Sanderson and the Doves Type - the typeset he meticulously created and then systematically discarded - is one of bitter feuds, loss and discovery.

Read more on this fascinating tale here: https://bit.ly/40uB0X2

1️⃣ TJ Cobden-Sanderson, External Copyright. Credit: Bonhams, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

2️⃣ Doves Type lying on the Thames foreshore

3️⃣ Doves Type found by Lukasz Orlinski

09/01/2025

Do you remember the Big Freeze? ❄️

The winter of 1962–1963 was one of the coldest winters on record here in the UK. Temperatures tumbled, blizzards blew in and pipes froze - leaving many people without water for weeks.

Even the fountains in Trafalgar Square froze, as seen in this photo, taken on 14 January 1963.

📷©️ Alamy

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