Guide to unusual museums in London
Those of us who grew up in the UK schooling system can recall London's history of the Black Death, a big fire, a few monarchs, and the notorious 1066. And while some of the larger institutions may fill you in on the World Wars or show you J.M.W. Turner's view of the Thames, London’s unusual museums reveal that its broad history really is multifaceted.
Straying off the beaten track can take you to some peculiar corners that specialise in some (very) niche subjects. Swap a plaster cast of Michelangelo's David at the V&A for Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic couch. Ditch a Rembrandt for a famous jar of moles. It's likely to be the day out that sticks in your mind the longest and if not, it's a great story.
The Vagina Museum
The Icelandic Phallological Museum was established in 1997, so really the 2017 opening of the Vagina Museum was long overdue. While it's an awkward spot for a first date, the museum is actually an educational haven which aims to erase the stigma and shame that shrouds the female anatomy.
The giant glittery tampon may be a laugh, but the exhibits are key to raising awareness for under-researched conditions like endometriosis. I thoroughly enjoyed the debunking of many widely held myths in gynaecological history. For example; the two male Renaissance anatomists who claimed to have discovered the clitoris in 1559. Spoiler alert - neither of them did…
The Vagina Museum is open Wednesday - Sunday, 10 am until 6 pm
Bethnal Green, E2 | vaginamuseum.co.uk
The Postal Museum
Fittingly, the London Postal Museum can be found next to Mount Pleasant, the Royal Mail central delivery office.
Its unassuming facade houses treasures from Her Majesty’s not-so-secret service. A plaster cast of the former queen is instantly recognisable from the stamp. Amazingly, it was copied a staggering 22 billion times making it the most replicated artwork in history.
Across the road is the Mail Rail, a cavernous underground network once used to transport mail that has flown under the radar and literally under the city for a century. For the true parcel experience, you can ride it yourself. It's grubbily untouched since its final functional days and dinkey in size. If you're over six feet, you may yearn to be above ground once more.
The London Postal Museum is open Tuesday - Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm
Clerkenwell, WC1X | postalmuseum.org
The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities
If you're near Bethnal Green, step into the world of Viktor Wynd and his wunderkammer of assorted oddities. Nothing here makes any sense. A sarcophagus sits with Happy Meal toys and a taxidermy winged kitten. And it gets weirder. Labels are so outlandish as to be improbable. Claims of celebrity stool samples, a human scalp and a wax figure of Wynd’s own suicide. If it's macabre, Wynd collects it.
An absinthe parlour on the ground floor serves equally outlandish drinks that come with Belgium chocolates that on closer inspection, seemed to be modelled on an anus, which leaves you wondering if the strangest curiosity in the museum might be Wynd himself.
The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities is open Tuesday - Friday from 3 pm to 11 pm, Saturday from 12 pm to 11 pm and Sunday from 12 pm to 10 pm
Bethnal Green, E8 | thelasttuesdaysociety.org
The Museum of Brands
The Museum of Brands was started by compulsive collector Robert Opie, who cleverly cottoned on to the glorious USP of nostalgia. While the packaging is constantly changing, products rarely are, meaning all ages can take a stroll down memory lane and see those they have known and loved.
Its permanent display, The Time Tunnel, takes you back to Victorian times and through the history of consumer culture. A maze of cabinets is stuffed with wrappers and magazines, bottles and boxes, showing everything from mustard to cigarettes. There’s a section just for Kellogg’s cereal. Another for all things Guinness. And with 20 items added per week, the museum avoids turning stale.
The Museum of Brands is open Monday - Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm
Notting Hill, W11 | museumofbrands.com
Grant Museum of Zoology at UCL
Grant himself was an influence on a young Darwin and founded this unique spot in 1828 for teaching academics. I'd describe it as Noah’s ark meets the underworld. And like its cousin the Hunterian Museum, the Grant Museum is both macabre and utterly fascinating.
It may only be a single gallery but it's an Aladdin's cave of haunting treasures. A dodo skeleton floating bisected heads, a spiralling giant centipede. The strange standout is the jar of moles which is exactly what it says on the tin:18 preserved whole moles stuffed into a large jar. Bizarre in itself but bizarrely so popular that at one point it had its own Twitter account.
Grant Museum of Zoology is open Tuesday - Friday, 1 pm to 5 pm and Saturday 11 am to 5 pm
Bloomsbury, WC1E | ucl.ac.uk
The Old Operating Theatre Museum
While we are on the note of what to avoid if you're squeamish, may I present the Old Operating Theatre Museum, a purpose-built and still intact operating theatre that predates both antiseptics and anaesthetics. From a time when 19th century medicine involved a glass of brandy and a saw.
It can be found in the attic at the top of St Thomas’s church in Southwark, and still retains its wooden staircase and operating table. A host of surgical instruments are on display that might make your toes curl and skin crawl, including a chisel and a head drill. Ouch.
The Old Operating Theatre Museum is open Thursday - Sunday from 10.30 am to 5 pm
Southwark, SE1 | oldoperatingtheatre.com
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