What we collect
London Museum’s vast and diverse collections capture the vibrant stories of Londoners across time – from archaeology to modern life, art to oral histories.
The museum collects objects that help to tell the stories of this diverse, multicultural city of over nine million people. We collect from archaeological digs, community partnership projects, and through individual gifts and purchases. Over the years, the museum has acquired and continues to acquire material important for London’s history, the study of London, or items that express powerful personal responses to the city.
The museum’s collection can be divided into several main areas. One of the largest is the archaeological collections, which includes the world’s largest archaeological archive as recognised by Guinness World Records.
Archive collections
Speaking of archives, we hold a whole array of archival materials, including the museum’s Business Archive, the Port of London Authority Archive and the Sainsbury Archive. These are essential for research, education, accountability and an informed public. The items in these archives offer insights into London’s history, commerce and culture as well as the history of the museum itself.
The London Collection
The archaeological collections cover over 450,000 years of London’s past, but is especially strong for Roman and medieval history. Our Dress and Textile collections are extremely popular, containing rich examples of the clothes worn by Londoners throughout its history.
Documenting London’s social and working history has always been central to our collecting, from the world’s largest Suffragettes collection to intricate examples of Whitefriars glass, from photographs of dockworkers through the decades to videos of Londoners making a difference in their boroughs.
Find out about how we organise our collections by time and type, and the huge range of material we hold.
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Archaeological collections
Explore six million artefacts, including human and animal remains from the Neolithic to Roman tiles and pottery
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Art and photography
Spanning over 500 years, this is a visual encyclopaedia of London from medieval altarpieces to contemporary digital art
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Dress and textiles
This 26,000-strong collection reflects London’s history as a centre of fashion and captures the 'London look'
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Ephemera, manuscripts, rare books and maps
From 16th-century maps to 21st-century posters, this collection offers a fascinating snapshot of London life
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Historic collections (prehistory–1700s)
Find out more about prehistoric tools, Roman pottery and Tudor treasures like the world-famous Cheapside Hoard
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Modern collections (1700s–present)
London’s socio-cultural and economic history from the 1700s, including the world’s largest Suffragette collection
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Library
The Library holds around 30,000 volumes (including monographs, periodicals and maps), from the 15th century onwards
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Life stories and oral histories
The collection has around 5,000 hours of recorded oral histories of everyday Londoners from 1985 to the present day
Adding to our collection
As we work on packing and moving our collections to our new home in Smithfield, we’ve put a temporary hold on adding to the collections. However, under certain circumstances, we’re still acquiring collection objects. These are:
- items that form part of one of our Arts Council England-funded strands of collecting, especially the Young Londoners’ Archive project
- acquisitions that fill gaps in our representation of London’s diversity and its histories
- acquisitions that represent outstanding time-limited opportunities
Want to know more about what and how we collect?
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Read/Download our Collection Development Policy for further details.
