Best Year Ever For Museum in Docklands!

2008-05-29

Museum in Docklands has had its busiest year since it opened five years ago. Almost 108,000 visitors flocked to the Museum and particularly the new London, Sugar & Slavery gallery, which opened 1st November.

Director of the Museum in Docklands, David Spense, said: “This is a huge endorsement of Museum in Docklands. It’s not unusual for museums to have lots of visitors when they first open, but many have a bit of a dip before they pick up again. Museum in Docklands has consistently attracted over 100,000 visits each year since it opened.”

Museum in Docklands was recently cited in the Lonely Planet guide as one of the main reasons for tourists visiting Canary Wharf.

One visitor said of the London, Sugar & Slavery gallery: “Thank you for this exhibition. The only way we can learn from and not repeat our mistakes is by talking about them, however uncomfortable it may be.”

Another described their visit to Museum in Docklands as: “A most enjoyable and informative experience, having been a Londoner all my life I was surprised at the amount I learned.”

Notes:

1. The Museum of London tells the lively story of London from pre-historic times to the present day. Find out what Romans ate for dinner, experience the Great Fire of London and find out when pointy shoes first became fashionable.  Reconstructed interiors and street scenes are alternated with displays of original artefacts found in the museum's archaeological digs.
2.  From March 2007 to summer 2009, the museum will be redeveloping its lower galleries to retell the story of London and Londoners from 1666 to the present day.  The £18 million project, which is the largest the Museum has seen since opening in 1976, will revitalize the galleries, open up 25% more gallery space and create a glass frontage overlooking London Wall.  The new galleries will open in 2009 with significantly increased access to the Museum’s objects, both in the galleries and online, and will also include a new Core Learning Centre, a theatre and a central Sackler Hall containing an information zone and coffee point.
3. Throughout the redevelopment work, visitors will continue to be able to discover the city's many incarnations in the London before London, Roman London, and Medieval London galleries, together with London's Burning and a series of topical exhibitions.  A full programme of activities and events for all ages, bringing London's past and present to life, will continue.