The Horniman Museum is a museum in Forest Hill, South London, England. Commissioned in 1898, it opened in 1901 and was designed by Charles Harrison Townsend in the Arts and Crafts style.[1]
The Horniman Museum is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and is constituted as a company and registered charity under English law.[2]
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History
The museum was founded by Victorian tea trader Frederick John Horniman and contained his collection of natural history, cultural artefacts and musical instruments.
In 1911 an additional building to the west of the main building, originally containing a lecture hall and library, was donated by Frederick Horniman's son Emslie Horniman. This was also designed by Townsend. In 1999 the museum was closed for redevelopment, and it re-opened on 14 June 2002.
CUE building
The Horniman Museum contains the CUE (Centre for Understanding the Environment) building. This opened in 1996 and was designed by local architects Archetype. The building has a grass roof and was constructed from sustainable materials. It also incorporates passive ventilation.
Collections
The Horniman specialises in anthropology, natural history and musical instruments and has a collection of 350,000 objects. The ethnography and music collections have Designated status. One of its most famous exhibits is the large collection of stuffed animals. It also has an aquarium noted for its unique layout.
On four floors, the museum has a wide range of themed galleries and "highlit" objects:
- First floor
- Natural history balcony
- Apostle clock, England
- Natural history balcony
- Ground floor
- Main entrance, shop & cafe
- Sand painting, America
- "Hands on base"
- Textile display
- Balcony gallery
- Natural history gallery
- Walrus, Canada
- Whale penis, Luxembourg
- Conservatory
- CUE building with library
- Main entrance, shop & cafe
- Lower ground floor
- Music gallery
- French horn, England
- Carlton drum kit, England
- Centenary gallery
- Torture chair
- "Art"
- Kali, India
- Temporary exhibition gallery
- African worlds gallery
- Benin plaques, Nigeria
- Ijele mask, Nigeria
- Coffin lid, Egypt
- Music gallery
- Basement floor
- Horniman Museum Aquarium
Gardens
The museum is set in 16 acres (65,000 m²) of gardens which include the following features:
- A Grade II listed conservatory
- A bandstand from 1912
- A small animal enclosure
- A nature trail
- An ornamental garden
Photo galleries
References
External links
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