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.
The world-famous Waterhouse Building is a London landmark and a work of art. This beautiful building was designed by Alfred Waterhouse, a young architect from Liverpool. He won the contract after the original architect died.
High above visitors to the Natural History Museum is an art exhibition, but one you could easily miss if you didn’t know it was there. Look up from the busy Central Hall in the heart of the Museum and you’ll find a wonderful spread of ceiling panels decorated with plants from every corner of the globe. Beautiful in design, richly coloured and gilded, each has a story to tell.
They speak vividly of an era when specimens of plants from around the world flooded into Britain, sparking an explosion of interest in botany and horticulture, with new glasshouses and public parks springing up all over the country.
This building owes its existence to the passion and vision of Richard Owen, who took over as superintendent of the Natural History Departments at the British Museum in 1856. Owen was unhappy with the cramped storage conditions for the ever-growing collection of natural history specimens, and began a campaign for a separate building that would house this national treasure. Helping him to realise this project was an up-and-coming young architect, Alfred Waterhouse.
When this extraordinary building opened in 1881, it was hailed as ‘a true temple of nature’ and ‘the animal’s Westminster Abbey’.
This tour tells you about the Museum’s creation and highlights some of the details that are often overlooked.
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