London Museum Sets November Opening for Vast Smithfield Site

A New Chapter at Smithfield

The London Museum has confirmed that its long-anticipated new home at the historic Smithfield market in Farringdon will welcome visitors from 28 November, marking one of the most significant museum developments in the capital in recent memory.

The project, described as one of Europe's largest cultural infrastructure undertakings, has seen its total cost rise to £437m—considerably above the £337m budget established in 2019. Funding has come from multiple sources: the Greater London Authority, under mayor Sadiq Khan, has contributed £95m, while the City of London Corporation has provided £222m. A range of private foundations and sponsors, including Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Goldsmiths' Foundation, the Linbury Trust and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, are also backing the scheme.

The institution, which operated from its former London Wall site near the Barbican Centre until December 2022 under the name Museum of London, has been reimagined by architects Stanton Williams and Asif Khan, working in partnership with conservation specialists Julian Harrap.

Two-Stage Opening

The site will open in two phases. The first, launching in November, centres on the formerly derelict Victorian General Market dating from the 1880s, which will house the museum's permanent galleries. The second phase, scheduled for 2028, will see the 1960s Poultry Market come into use, accommodating the learning centre, temporary exhibition spaces and collection stores. The adjacent buildings will be linked by an enclosed avenue.

The ground floor of the General Market will host Our Time, a hub for performances, talks and festivals. The permanent galleries themselves occupy an underground space where content will span Roman relics, dress, vehicles, art and photography, including the exquisite Cheapside Hoard presented in the Goldsmiths' Gallery. A live train line will run alongside this subterranean gallery, which was once a vast goods depot for the Great Northern Railway.

Highlights from the Collection

Among the notable objects destined for the new museum is one of Banksy's famed animal-themed works—a police sentry box emblazoned with a shoal of piranhas. Also set to go on display are the diving trunks worn by Tom Daley at the 2012 London Olympics and the silk vest worn by Charles I at his execution in 1649.

The opening represents a major moment for London's cultural landscape, bringing together centuries of the city's history within a single, architecturally ambitious complex.