The Horniman Museum

The Horniman Museum and Gardens are located in Forest Hill, London. It is an exposition focusing on anthropology, natural history, musical instruments and a staggering collection of taxidermied animals. The museum is a non-departmental body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and a registered charity under the English Law.

 

The history

The Horniman Museum was founded by Frederick John Horniman in 1901. Horniman had a lifelong passion for two things – collecting various things and travelling. Combination of those activities resulted in an impressive collection of more than 30000 items from different fields. Today, The Horniman Museum possesses over 350000 objects. The first floor is divided to Natural History Balcony section and Under 5s Book Zone. The ground floor contains: Conservatory, Textile Display, Environment Room, Balcony Gallery, Hands on Base, Education Centre, CUE Building (Centre for Understanding the Environment), a cafe and a gift shop. On the ground floor, there are Music Gallery, Gallery Square, Temporary Exhibition and Security Reception. On the London Road wall of the main building there is a beautiful neoclassical mosaic mural titled ‘Humanity in the House of Circumstance’. It was designed by Robert Anning Bell to represent personal aspirations and limitations. This amazing mural contains 117000 individual tesserae. The whole piece of art measures 10 by 32 feet and was assembled in 210 days by a group of young women. Another interesting part of the museum are the gardens. Spreading up to 65000 m² they contain an A Grade II listed conservatory dating to 1894, which was transferred from Horniman’s family house to the present site; a lovely bandstand from 1912; an enclosure for small animals; an ornamental garden; natural trail; a sound garden with a lot of musical instruments. Gardens are also listed and graded as Grade II in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

The most interesting facts according to Connect-Click:

• Just outside the museum main entrance there is a 6.1 m (20 ft) red cedar totem pole, which was carved in 1985 by Nathan Jackson, a Tlingit – native Alaskan.
• The Horniman Museum also has an aquarium, which is located on the basement floor noted for its unique layout.

Address: 100 London Rd, Forest Hill, London SE23 3PQ