The
British Museum: Tourist Information
The
British Museum was founded in 1753 and it is the oldest museum in
the world.
The
museum's unique collection was started by the physician Sir Hans Sloane
(1660 - 1753), who also responsible for helping set up the
Chelsea Physic Garden. Sloane's 'cabinet of
curiosities' was greatly increased over the years by gifts
and purchases and the storage space soon became overwhelmed.
In
1847 Robert Smirke designed the new neo-classical building,
with its grand colonnaded façade and spacious interior.
The British Museum now displays antiquities from all over
the world and is the most popular attraction in the capital.
The
British Museum contains a vast collection of treasures
spanning 2 million years of world history and civilization. There
are over 90 galleries (covering 2.5 miles), divided into
specialised sections. The permanent displays include
treasures from Eygpt, Greece, Rome and Western Asia.
The museum's collection of Oriental art includes superb
examples of Chinese, Indian and Islamic workmanship.
Other
galleries display artifacts from prehistoric and Roman
Britain and there is an important collection of medieval,
Renaissance and modern objects. The
museum's Ethnography Collections have been returned from the
Museum of Mankind and will be displayed in various locations
within the building including the Sainsbury African
Galleries which opened in 2001.
The
British Museum's most important treasures include the Elgin
Marbles, the Egyptian Mummies, the Rosetta Stone and the
Mildenhall Treasures. Until
the late-20th century the building also housed the British
Library. However, to mark the British Museum's 250th
anniversary it was decided to transfer the British Library
to a new site in the Euston Road.
When
the library was re-located in 1997 the museum acquired 2
acres of new space in the vast quadrangle around the Reading
Room. The museum was transformed with the creation of
Sir Norman Foster's splendid 'Great Court', London's first
glass-covered public square. The great undulating roof
of glass and metal (which floods the new plaza with light
but reflects the heat) has no visible signs of supports.
As
well as restoring Robert Smirke's façades of the courtyard
the southern portico, leading into the newly restored foyer,
has been reinstated. At
the centre of the Great Court is the British Library's
famous domed Round Reading Room.
This
has been painstakingly restored to its original interior
decoration. In this spectacularly beautiful room
museum visitors can get a taste of the atmosphere that many
famous readers, such as George Bernard Shaw and Karl Marx,
found so agreeable.
The
Reading Room now contains a public reference library and
COMPASS, a multi-media system giving visitors access to the
museum's collections. As
well as being a breathtaking open space the Great Court
provides greatly improved access to the galleries.
There are also several cafes and museum shops.
Opening
Times
Open:
Mon-Sat 10:00-17:00 Sun 14:30-18:00 Last
admission 15 minutes before closing time.
Closed: 24 -26 December, 1 Jan & Good Friday
Admission free
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