| Museums
& Galleries
Britain
offers a truly great selection of museums and galleries. There
are many art galleries, lectures on art history, Information
and exhibitions. Whether you wish to explore fine art and
the works of art collection at The Tate Gallery or to study
world cultures and antiquities at The British Museum in London,
you can do it all here online.
The British
Museum dates back to 1753 when the collction of Sir Hans Sloane
was acquired for the nation. The British Museum has been located
in South Kensington, London since 1881.
The British
Museum once housed The British Library which is now housed
separately at its new site in Euston Road, London. The British
Library was created by the British Library Act of 1972 and
consists of a combination of the British Museum Library, the
National Central Library and the National Lending Library
for Science and Technology.
The Natural
History Museum, based at Cromwell Road, London, is the United
Kingdom's national museum of natural history, and a centre
of scientific excellence in taxonomy and biodiversity. The
Museum's mission is to maintain and develop its collections
and use them to promote the discovery, understanding, responsible
use and enjoyment of the natural world. The first home of
the Natural History Museum was at the British Museum in Montagu
House in Bloomsbury. Professor Richard Owen and William Gladstone
convinced parliament that there was need for a new museum.
Land was bought in South Kensington for a new museum. The
new museum building was open to the public in 1881. The museum
offers a wonderful insight into nature, palaeontology, dinosaurs,
animals, biology, zoology, botany, plants, minerals, geology,
environment, insects, birds and many of nature's discoveries.
In 1963, the National History Museum was established by Act
of Parliament as an independent museum with its own board
of Trustees.
What we
now know as the Victoria and Albert Museum opened in London
in 1852 as the Museum of Manufacturers and was later renamed
as the Museum of Ornamental Arts. The museum was created to
house articles bought at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and
was renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum at the request
of Queen Victoria when she laid the foundation stone for the
present building. The Science Museum was separated from the
Victoria and Albert Museum and moved to South Kensington in
1909 and has the most important British collection of scientific
and technological exhibits.
At the
Imperial War Museum, which was founded in London as a lasting
memorial to those who died in the First World War, there are
over six million images covering both world wars. It was originally
housed in the Crystal Palace and then moved to the former
Imperial Institute in 1924 and then later to the Royal Bethlehem
Hospital.
The National
Gallery houses the largest and one of the greatest collections
of European paintings in the world. It was opened originally
in Pall Mall in 1824 and moved to its current location in
Trafalgar Square in 1838. A new extension (the Sainsbury Wing)
was opened in 1991. This wing was designed by Robert Venturi
and houses the early renaissance paintings. Entrance to the
museum is free.
| London
Museums & Galleries |
| |
Museum
Net
This excellent, museum and gallery guide is an information
resource that offers a national search facility by region,
keyword and A-Z listing. |
