Museums

All the coolest medieval artifacts you've ever read about or seen in books are in London. If you're a keen researcher and know that a museum has a particular collection, contact the museum in advance to make an appointment to view it privately or meet with one of the curators. They will make time for serious enthusiasts.

Unless stated below, admission is free.

Donations (around £3/person) encouraged.

Most sites open at 10am, but phone to confirm, especially around holidays.

There is sometimes a charge for special exhibits (usually £6+ for adults - if you are a student, bring your student card and proffer that for a discount). These are all offsite links.

The British Museum

Great Russell St, WC1B 3DG

Tel: 020 7323 8599

Tube: Holborn, Tottenham Court Road, Russell Square, Goodge Street

Notes: Founded in 1753, one of the great museums of the world.

UPDATE, October 2007: Most of medieval and renaissance collection is not available while displays are being refurbished! (Yes, we're annoyed too.)

There's a token room of artifacts to keep riots at bay, until the renovations are finished.

Check the website to confirm what is, and is not, available for viewing.

Hampton Court Palace

Hampton, Outer London

Hours: Check for seaonal changes.

Train: From Waterloo train station, there is a direct train service every half hour to Hampton Court train station, which takes about 30 minutes. The palace is a 5 minute meander away, and is well marked.

Fee required - part of the Historic Royal Palaces group.

Notes: A marvelous experience, especially the kitchens. Be sure to go on one of the free tours (book yourself in at the Information Office inside), which have extremely knowledgeable costumed guides. Definitely a full day's trip.  

Museum of London

London Wall, EC2Y 5HN. Tel: 020 7600 0807

Tube: Barbican, St.Pauls, Moorgate, Bank. Follow the brown street signs from outside the tube station. The main entrance is poorly signposted and can be a bit hard to locate.

Basically, the museum is housed inside what looks like a large round brick turret, with no way inside. Look for the overpass, and the entrance is below that on the opposite side of the road to the turret. 

Notes: An engrossing tour of London from pre-historic times through to the modern era, with an innovative layout. The medieval exhibit has been recently reworked - it is now better lit, but has some slightly odd 'atmospheric' displays.

Prepare to spend the better part of a day there.

National Portrait Gallery

St Martin's Place, WC2H OHE.

Near Trafalgar Square.

Tel: 020 7306 0055

Tube: Leceister Square, Charing Cross/Embankment (the stations are about 100 m apart).

Notes: A fascinating collection of portraits of English royalty, and other movers and shakers. Worth a 1 to 2 hour visit for the Tudor and Elizabethan portraits, but not particularly interesting after Charles II and all his mistresses. Fortunately, it's right next door to the...

National Gallery

Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 5DN.

Tel: 020 7747 2885

Tube: Charing Cross, Leicester Square, Embankment, Piccadilly Circus

Notes: An enormous collection of paintings from 1260 onwards. Something for everyone.

The Tate (Britain) Gallery

Millbank, London SW1P 4RG. Tel: 020 7887 8000

Hours: Daily 10.00-17.50. Closed 24, 25, 26 December.

Tube: Pimlico (Victoria Line)

Notes: The Tate Britain houses the national collection of British art from the sixteenth century to the present day, but is mostly post-1600 art. Fans of Gainsborough, Constable, Whistler, Turner, Blake, and the Pre-Raphaelites will not want to miss it however.

There is also the Tate Modern just opened, for fans of modern art.

The Victoria & Albert Museum (slow-loading site)

Cromwell Road, South Kensington, SW7 2RL Tel: 020 7938 8500

Tube:South Kensington (Piccadilly, District, Circle lines)

Notes: World's leading museum of decorative arts. Another somewhere to spend hours and hours and hours. The beautiful building itself is worth the trip.

Highlights for SCAadians include the textiles collection, illuminated manuscripts, the Italian gallery and the medieval and English Renaissance galleries.

Important note: the medieval galleries are closed until 2009.

The 'cast galleries' (aka room of forgeries) with plaster casts of many of the world's finest statuary and commemmorative tombs (taken in the 19th c.) are still accessible, and a handful of the artifacts that were previously in the medieval display are out, but the splendid embroideries and glass are not currently on display.

V&A Image Database -10,000 works from the V&A's collections.

The Wallace Collection

Hertford House, Manchester Square, London W1U 3BN

For more details see their location page.

Tube: Bond Street and Baker Street. 

Notes: One of the best collections of French 18th-century pictures, porcelain and furniture in the world, and a remarkable array of 17th-century paintings. Includes some lovely 16th and 17th miniature paintings and wax portraits.

For SCAdians though, nothing can beat the superb armoury. Don't expect to drag your fighter and/or weapons buff out of there in under several hours. 

Update, March 2008: 2 of the medieval arms and armour galleries are closed. The remaining weapons gallery, and the 19th c. Asian armour collection, is still fascinating, but not as comprehensive as usual.

British Library 

96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB

+44 (0)870 444 1500

Tube: Euston

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest libraries.

Highlights for SCAdians: manuscripts (Lindisfarne Gospels, Sherborne Missal, Luttrell Psalter, several illuminated Haggadahs, two original copies of the Magna Carta, among many others)...and a bookshop to die for. A major pilgrimage point for scribes and illuminators.

Treasures in Full Examine every page of rare historic works; compare different editions side-by-side; choose standard or magnified view; read supporting material by our curators and other experts.

 Top

Entertainment

Original London Walks

Splendid walks around London, led by an entertaining and well-trained host. Average length is 2 hours.

An excellent way to learn about London, well worth the £5 fee.

Site

Globe Theatre

If you're visiting anytime from spring til autumn, book yourself a show at the Globe. Built to reproduce the open-air, 16th century theatre-in-the-round just like Shakespeare's theatre as closely as possible, productions are both modern-dress, pseudo-period costume, and 16th c. clothing. Gift shop is a bit tatty, but has some decent books.

Notes:

• The seats are narrow, and you're close to your neighbours - not the conventional theatre seating! Bring a cushion.
• Dress for the weather - shows go on rain or shine, and if you're close to the open area, you could get wet in a rain.
• If you're really keen (and are moderately fit) go for the full-body experience, and buy a £5 ticket and stand through the production as a groundling. (You cannot sit during the show, and the ground is concrete, so it's a bit hard on the legs.) Worth doing once, for a short show!

Half price ticket booths

Whilst not exactly half-price, you can usually get a good discount from these places. There are two situated in Leicester Square, and you are sure to be leafleted as you come out of the tube.

No booking, it's on a first come, first served basis. So the earlier you are there, the more chance you have of getting good tickets to something you want.

 Top