London History Day: Where to learn about London's history

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Zoe Paskett31 May 2018

It’s London History Day and what better time is there to look back through the centuries?

Taking a walk around will reveal secrets in stone of buildings and overlooked plaques on the wall but if you aren’t satisfied with simply speculating, you can find out more facts than you could ever need at London’s museums and archives.

Here are a few of the places to learn about the rich heritage of the city.

London Metropolitan Archives

The Met archive is the number one place to go to look back in time. Research your own family history or your neighbourhood’s – either way, look all the way back to 1067 in photographs, maps, books and films about London. For London History Day, the archive is holding a special event, Women and Power, where they look back over the campaigners, factory workers, politicians, apprentices, artists and engineers who have shaped the city.

40 Northampton Rd, EC1R 0HB, cityoflondon.gov.uk

Museum of London

The Museum of London begins in prehistoric times, in London before it was London and makes its way through the millenia to today. The permanent galleries span Romans, through the Medieval period, the Great Fire and Thomas Heatherwick’s London 2012 Olympic Cauldron.

150 London Wall, EC2Y 5HN. Museumoflondon.org.uk

London places that take you back in time

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The Foundling Museum

The Foundling Hospital was the UK’s first children’s charity and first public art gallery. Now in the Foundling Museum, the permanent exhibits teach about the lives of the children who lived there and how, since its inception in the eighteenth century, the hospital has been supported by London’s artistic community. In keeping with this legacy, the Gallery contains a display of art from contemporary artists’ projects with young people in London.

40 Brunswick Square, WC1N 1AZ, foundlingmuseum.org.uk

Black Cultural Archives

This is the only national heritage centre dedicated to protecting, restoring and recounting black British history. Since opening in 1981 in Brixton’s Windrush Square, the centre has amassed more than 3,500 records across 41 collections detailing the presence of African and Caribbean communities in the UK, from personal papers to photographs and periodicals.

1 Windrush Square, SW2 1EF, blackculturalarchives.org

St Bartholomew's Hospital Museum and Archive

Paul Tucker

St Bartholomew’s Hospital was founded in 1123. The practice of medicine has changed significantly since then (thank goodness) and the hospital’s museum shows just how much difference 900 years can make. The documents and objects on display reflect the changes to patient care and teaching in the hospital over the years. There is also an archive where you can dig even deeper.

Henry VIII gate on Giltspur Street, EC1A 7BE, bartshealth.nhs.uk

Bishopsgate Institute

Since 1895, Bishopsgate Institute have been home to a marriage of culture, history and debate, housing collections on campaigning, feminism, socialist history, LGBTQ+ history and cooperation. They hold one of the largest photographic collections relating to protest in the UK, documenting the early Pride marches, anti-apartheid rallies, the Brixton riots and the Women’s March of 2017.

230 Bishopsgate, EC2M 4QH, bishopsgate.org.uk

Off-limits London: Places you can't go

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Monument to the Great Fire of London

Commemorating the Great Fire of London, the Monument was built between 1671 and 1677. Sir Christopher Wren drew up the design for the structure, which stands at 61 metres tall. That’s the exact distance between the column and the point on Pudding Lane where the fire began. You can walk up all the way to the top and learn about the building’s miraculous survival during the Blitz.

Fish St Hill, EC3R 8AH, themonument.info

British Library

Journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, newspapers and sound make up the 170 million strong collection at the British Library. Regular events and exhibitions show off the library’s expansive records, many of which aren’t always available to the public. You can get your hands on a lot of it though, and thumb through the pages of history in the reading rooms.

96 Euston Rd, London NW1 2DB, bl.uk

British Film Institute

Explore London’s cultural history at the world’s largest film archive: with 50,000 fiction films, 100,000 non-fiction and 625,000 TV shows, take a visual tour through the material that has defined the city from the birth of cinema to now. Their regular spotlights focus on specific eras and their depiction on screen, from women getting the vote to the 60s spirit of protest.

Belvedere Rd, SE1 8XT, bfi.org.uk

Walk History with Historic England

(Shutterstock / Christo Mitkov Christov)
Shutterstock / christo mitkov christov

If you fancy yourself as a tour guide, Historic England has you covered with their Walk History app. The app includes eight walking tours, taking you around every corner of London: Brixton’s black history from 1948 until now, Camden’s railway and industrial heritage or 130 years of queer Soho, from the late Victorian era to present day.

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