Tiny, eccentric and unforgettable — four London museums that do things differently.
Doyle of London, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sir John Soane's Museum, Holborn
Architect Sir John Soane's own house, kept almost as he left it in 1837 — crammed with paintings, models, antiquities and hidden panels.
Wellcome Collection, CC BY 4.0, lithograph by C. J. Richardson
Grant Museum of Zoology, Bloomsbury
Founded in 1828, London's last university natural history museum — home to a rare quagga skeleton, thylacine specimens, dodo bones and delicate Blaschka glass sea creatures.
Vassil, CC0
Horniman Museum, Forest Hill
A Victorian treasure trove in Forest Hill, opened in 1901 — world cultures, musical instruments, an aquarium and gardens with views over London.
Ethan Doyle White, CC BY-SA 4.0
Old Operating Theatre, London Bridge
One of Europe's oldest surviving operating theatres, hidden in a church attic by London Bridge. Built in 1822, it lay forgotten for almost a century.