Visiting London? The Museum of London, is one of the best museums in the UK and is free. (Part 1)

/ Museum of London/

Visiting London? The Museum of London, is one of the best museums in the UK and is free. You can see amazing objects from thousands of years of life in London, from a Mammoth tusk to a pilgrims badge representing a visit to St Thomas Becket’s tomb. You can get up close to those objects and see their little details. The displays are bright and informative. There are rooms set out as though they were from a Roman villa placing Roman finds in context. Several models are on display such as London’s Roman forum and Basilica as well as the original gothic St Paul’s Cathedral

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Bones, stones , pots and relics, one of the best museums to get close to your ancestors at Corinium museum in the Cotswolds.

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Bones, stones , pots and relics, one of the best museums to get close to your ancestors at Corinium museum in the Cotswolds. It is , by far, one of the best museums to get see prehistoric, Roman and Saxon remains. There are so many things to see and so many information boards that it is impossible not to learn a huge amount about our ancestors. It gives visitors an opportunity to handle replicas such as in the two photos above. You will be able to get a close look at archaeological discoveries that are regularly discovered with great excitement on tv programmes but then are taken off to be studied in private at universities. The Neolithic and Beaker people pottery are good examples of this, whilst at this museum, you can see all the decoration on their pots and begin to see how different decorations show different periods of prehistory. You can see various graves that have been reconstructed and appreciate the work of archaeologists carefully uncovering such finds to get the full picture and maximum information from their dig.

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Butser Ancient Farm, five thousand years of history.

/ Butser Ancient Farm/

Where did our ancestors live when they came down from trees? Where did Cave men live if there weren’t any caves about? They had to build them. At Butser Ancient Farm, you will see an amazing collection of reconstructed houses from the Neolithic period, five thousand years ago to the Saxons in the early medieval period. You can look closely at the building techniques, styles and materials from the different time periods. It is one thing to see artist versions in books but it is a very different thing to see a reconstructed building based on actual examples and then walk inside it. At Butser you can also see how the interiors were furnished and decorated. There is even an amazing reconstructed Roman villa for you to wander through. Butser Ancient Farm is full of exceptionally friendly and helpful staff who love the place, are very knowledgeable and are very keen to tell you all about it. You will come away with an improved knowledge of living spaces over thousands of years, an enhanced love of history and some excellent stories.

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A little gem in Anglesey - Din LLigwy hut group, an amazing 3rd -4th century settlement that few people have heard of or visited!

/ Din LLigwy/

Din LLigwy hut group is an amazing 3rd -4th century settlement that few people have heard of or visited! The foundations of two round huts and several rectangular buildings surrounded by a five feet high stone wall. The whole thing covers an area of approximately half an acre and is situated on a low hill that once had good views over Anglesey but now is partly secluded by a small wood. This is an incredible site when considering all of the buildings on view. All of it can be explored in a very peaceful part of the countryside. In our opinion, if this was in mainland Wales or in a populated area elsewhere in Britain, this large archaeological site would be a very popular tourist destination with an exhibition centre and and an entrance fee.

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Bryn Celli Ddu a neolithic burial chamber that you can go inside and henge monument.

/ Bryn Celli Ddu/

Visiting Bryn Celli Ddu takes you back to the Neolithic period, 5000 years ago when farming had come to Britain . Cadw who look after this monument describe it as the best known prehistoric monument on Anglesey and one of the most evocative archaeological sites in Britain.You have a wonderful opportunity to go inside a Neolithic tomb burial chamber. Inside the mound is a narrow passage which ends in a small chamber where human bones, arrowheads and carved stones were found. If you visit Bryn Celli Ddu before sunrise on the longest day of the year, aka the summer solstice, you will see that the rising sun’s rays shine directly down the passage way to illuminate the chamber where the human remains were once placed. This is the only example of this alignment in Anglesey.

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Colchester Castle; one of the finest archaeological collections in the country and brilliant for kids.

/ Colchester Castle/

This is the largest Norman Keep in Europe built on top of the remains of the great temple of Claudius the conquering Roman Empire. Objects from over 2000 years including the Iron Age, Boudicca’s uprising, the finest display of Roman glassware rivalling that of the British Museum, are here along a gruesome dungeon section focusing on the BloodY Mary burning people at the stake, Matthew Hopkin’s witchfinding, There are countless invitations to touch objects and children’s activities include a roman chariot race simulation, 4 dressing up stations, use of tablets to compete an electronic quiz and creation of a mosaic.

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Why the British Museum should be on everyone's itinerary

/ British Museum/

I know what you’re thinking: “why on earth would I put a museum on my London itinerary”? Shouldn’t I be visiting the world-class restaurants, the west-end theatre or simply taking in the history like Buckingham Palace. Furthermore, you’ll be surprised to find that the British Museum isn’t focused on British History (very little of it is actually British).

However, stick with me, because the British Museum is not only one of the best museums in Britain, but probably the world.


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Why the British Museum?

Firstly, because you can investigate over 4000 years of history in one place. Spread over four floors, there are plenty of artefacts to see at your leisure and we’ve made multiple trips (probably culminating in days of exploring and we still haven’t seen it all).

From Rameses II of Egypt, to the Rosetta Stone and the preserved remains of Lindow Man, to the Sutton Hoo treasure and Viking loot, the British Museum is home to some of the most important artefacts in the world and there will be something that interests everyone.

Can’t afford to go to Egypt? Go to the British Museum and immerse yourself in the world of the pharaohs!

Mummies, statues, ancient pictures and hieroglyphs, the British Museum has loads of them.The spectacle of world of ancient Egypt is there for all to see.Ever seen a mummified Cat, crocodile or bull? They are all there to add to the story of the land of the pharaohs.

You can take in the museum long galleries packed with amazing objects from Ancient Egypt. After spending a couple of hours in galleries on two floors you’ll be booking your next holiday to the land of the Pharaohs. This is only the start of your expedition in time to some of the most fascinating periods of history.

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Here’s a few more reasons why we love this museum.

The Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone

Have you ever wandered how Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered?

Have a look at the Rosetta Stone and see hieroglyphs alongside ancient Greek and Demotic. Look for the the cartouche (name) of Rameses II on the stone and wonder how it was decoded. If you want to get even closer to the Rosetta Stone, go to room one and see an exact copy that you can touch and get a closer look.

You can see giant statues from one of the first civilisations which predates the Romans and Greeks

You can meet the mysterious Lindow Man

The British Museum may be famous for grand men of history, Pharoahs and Greeks of the classical world but here you will find a British man from the Iron Age. Pete Marsh was murdered 2000 years ago yet his body was preserved in Lindow Moss in a Manchester peat bog. Archaeologists have even discovered that he had just eaten some bread for breakfast before he was brutally killed.

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Want to see the the world of the Ancient Greeks?

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You can get close up to legendary heroes, centaurs and the world famous Elgin Marbles from the Acropolis at the British Museum.

Key stage 2 comes alive at the British Museum.

Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece are all important features of Key stage 2 History studied in primary schools.Make your child’s studies come alive and take the to the British Museum.

Want to entertain your children and grand children? Get them away from their iPads for the day?

Take them to the British Museum and have lots of fun discovering ancient worlds with our activity sheets.


Look at the detail in this buckle

Look at the detail in this buckle

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See treasure from largest ever Anglo-Saxon Ship burial at Sutton Hoo.

Despite no wooden remains lasting the ravages of an acid soil in East Anglia, the ghostly outline of a ship was carefully excavated to reveal the amazing grave goods of an Anglo-Saxon nobleman who was once thought to be a king! Marvel at the skilled artistic metalwork used to create the gold and garnet shoulder clasps, a purse lid and belt buckle.


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Meet the Lewis Chessmen, made 800 years ago in Norway but found on the Island of Lewis, Scotland.

For nearly 2500 years before the X Box and Wii, people of all ages from all over the medieval world, have played chess. Made of intricately carved Walrus ivory and whale tooth, the Lewis chessmen are one of our favourite exhibits. Look at their gloomy faces. The queen looks particularly fed up. In contrast, the pawns do not have any human features and some people believe, reflect the Islamic version of this Indian invented game.

 
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Never heard of the Assyrians?

At its height the Assyrian empire was huge and included Iran, Iraq, Egypt Israel and even Cyprus. Amazing carvings and friezes dating from the 8th and 8th centuries BC are among the stunning artefacts in the British Museum. If you want ancient culture without the crowds, come and see the Assyrian collection.

Avoiding the crowds

Want to visit the British Museum but can’t bare the thought of crowded gallery after crowded gallery, visit the Assyrian galleries in rooms 7-9 on the ground floor.


How to get to the British Museum

Take the underground to Tottenham Court Road and it take no more than 10 minutes to walk, with opportunities for a quick cup of coffee on the way.

 

Are you planning a trip to London? What is the best museum you’ve ever visited? Let us know in the comments below.

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Articles on London

Seeing The Past
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"Da Vinci Code", the Knights Templar and William Marshall, the "greatest knight that ever lived", see it all in the Temple Church hidden in the City of London.

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Visiting London? The Museum of London, is one of the best museums in the UK and is free. (Part 1)

Visiting London? The Museum of London, is one of the best museums in the UK and is free. You can see amazing objects from thousands of years of life in London, from a Mammoth tusk to a pilgrims badge representing a visit to St Thomas Becket’s tomb. You can get up close to those objects and see their little details. The displays are bright and informative. There are rooms set out as though they were from a Roman villa placing Roman finds in context. Several models are on display such as London’s Roman forum and Basilica as well as the original gothic St Paul’s Cathedral

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Rameses II - one of the stars of the British Museum

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