Natural History Museum - Cromwell Road, London, UK
N 51° 29.752 W 000° 10.582
30U E 695996 N 5708750
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums in Kensington. The other two being the Science Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum. If you are visiting London on a wet day then this is the place to be and, as a bonus, admission is free!
Waymark Code: WMDDE3
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 12/29/2011
Views: 14
"The
Natural History
Museum is sure to impress even the most jaded of children. This ornate
museum is home to more than 70 million specimens from across the natural world,
including insects, fossils and rocks. The Dinosaur gallery is one of the most
popular exhibits in the museum, with a giant T. rex, the horned Triceratops and
the fossilised skin of an Edmontosaurus. Kids can also try their hand at
becoming a scientist through hands-on educational tools, gallery trails and art
activities. And if the giant squid and blue whales still haven't awed your kids,
take them inside a giant globe representative of the solar system, or bring them
to 'The Power Within' where they can feel an earthquake simulation."
Source:
LondonTown.
"The Natural History Museum first
opened its doors to the public on Easter Monday in 1881, but its origins go back
more than 250 years.
It all started when physician and
collector of natural curiosities, Sir Hans Sloane, left his extensive collection
to the nation in 1753.
Originally Sloane’s specimens formed
part of the British Museum, but as other collections were added, including
specimens collected by botanist Joseph Banks on his 1768-1771 voyage with
Captain James Cook aboard HMS Endeavour, the natural history elements started to
need their own home.
Sir Richard Owen, Superintendent of
the British Museum’s natural history collection, persuaded the Government that a
new museum was needed. He had an ambitious plan – to display species in related
groups and to exhibit typical specimens with prominent qualities.
The chosen site in South Kensington
was previously occupied by the 1862 International Exhibition building, once
described as ‘the ugliest building in London’. Ironically, it was the architect
of that building, Captain Francis Fowke, who won the design competition for the
new Natural History Museum.
However, in 1865 Fowke died suddenly
and the contract was awarded instead to a rising young architect from Liverpool,
Alfred Waterhouse.
Waterhouse altered Fowke’s design from
Renaissance to German Romanesque, creating the beautiful Waterhouse Building we
know today. By 1883 the mineralology and natural history collections were in
their new home. But the collections were not finally declared a museum in their
own right until 1963."
Source:
The Natural History Museum.
The Natural History Museum is a Grade I
listed building and its entry reads:
"Museum. 1873-81. Alfred Waterhouse. Buff and grey terracotta, pitched slated
roof. Twenty seven bays, three and a half to four storeys. Centrepiece of three
bays, set forward with two spired towers on either side of entrance. Two end
bays to each side topped with octagonal towers with steep pavilion roofs. Square
headed windows to basement and ground floor. First floor windows round headed.
Ground and first floor windows with coupled subsidiary round headed lights. Two
light gabled dormers. Fine terracotta details including animals to first floor
cills. Interior complete, with fine terracotta details to all galleries, and
painting to central hall. Forecourt with ramps, single storey lodge, steps,
piers, gates and railings."
Source:
British Listed Buildings.