A local’s guide to the Museum of the Home in Hoxton, East London, one of the best free museums in the city with period rooms and secret gardens in the back!
Hoxton might be one of the lesser-known East London neighborhoods, but given its plenty hidden gems and beautiful village-like streets, it’s one of my favorite.
There, you’ll find street art, curiosity shops and delicious street food.
You’re a stone’s throw away from the Bethnal Green area and Columbia Road with its flower market, vintage shops and cafes hidden inside shops like Vintage Heaven.
You’re also really close to the beautiful, lively Shoreditch and Brick Lane’s street art – making Hoxton a cool place to visit if you have the time!
London’s Museum of the Home, a Free Hidden Gem in Hoxton
Formerly known as the Geffrye Museum, the Museum of the Home is located between the areas of Hoxton and Shoreditch in East London, on Kingsland Road.
The nearest stations are Hoxton Overground and Shoreditch High Street, located right outside Boxpark with its street food and indie shops.
Entrance to the Museum of the Home, Hoxton
The entire collection at the Museum of the Home focuses on the history of British domestic life, with period rooms and furnishings, interior design pieces and trinkets showing how people in London (and the UK) have lived across centuries.
The Museum began as the Geffrye Museum – and you’ll find a statue of Geffrye right outside the museum, and established in the 20th century in former almshouses (like the one you can find in Stepney Green).
The museum is actually built on the Almshouse Trail, with a board saying:
This building originally housed fourteen historical almshouses that were built in 1714 to provide free housing for pensioners.
As you walk through this gallery, look for the gold lines on the floor. These mark the original walls that stood here when the buildings were working almshouses.
Rooms Through Time, Museum of the Home, Hoxton
A Hall in 1630, Museum of the Home, Hoxton
It is a little before midday and the household is preparing for dinner.
The father has just finished reading the bible to the children and the servants are helping the mother to set the table, ready for the meal of boiled beef, currant pudding and carrots.
All of the household, including servants, will sit down to eat together.
After dinner, the father and apprentice will head back to work in the shop downstairs.
The children will practise playing music.
The youngest daughter hopes to finish the sampler she has been sewing for the past month.
A parlour in 1695, Museum of the Home, Hoxton
It is evening and the family have been joined by their friends for a light supper of cold meats and bread.
The table has been cleared by the servants for the group to play games and listen to the son play the flute. One the servants have finished their tasks, they will join the family around the fire to listen to the music.
The family are proud to host their guests in their smart new room – their house is typical of those built to replace the thousands that were destroyed in the Great Fire of London a few years before.
A parlour in 1745, Museum of the Home, Hoxton
On a spring morning in London, before the sun has even risen, two servants are hard at work.
It is an important day, the lady of this middle-class household is having friends over for afternoon tea and she wants the parlour to be sparkling clean so she can show off her home to her guests.
If you look over to the fireplace you can see where one maid is hard at work cleaning the grate and scrubbing the hearth.
A Parlour in 1790, Museum of the Home, Hoxton
It is early in the evening and the middle-class family who live here are entertaining some relatives and a close family friend.
Everyone is full from dinner, which was served at about 5 pm, and they have settled down to pay cards.
If they are peckish later, they may take tea and have some supper.
A Drawing Room in 1830, Museum of the Home, Hoxton
It is mid-afternoon and a mother and her daughters are gathered in the drawing room of a middle-class home.
The mother is relaxing on the sofa, reading her monthly magazine and catching up on the latest fashions.
At the central table, her eldest daughter is practising her watercolours.
If you look to the right of the table, the younger daughter is writing a letter to her cousin who lives on the other side of London.
She has set up the chess pieces on the games table at the back of the room, ready to challenge her brother to a game when he returns from school.
Museum of the Home, Hoxton, London Photo Gallery
Over time, the Museum of the Home expanded its collection from Rooms Through Time, with wider explorations of what ‘home’ means; through housing types, social change and urban life.
If you’re into social history, this is a free museum you really shouldn’t miss – the period rooms are great to daydream about what life would have been like at that time.
The rest of the collection shows the evolution of domestic items like vacuum cleaners, games (like the whisp and a 1992 Nintendo game), even armchairs.
Secret Garden at the Museum of the Home, Hoxton
When you are done visiting the period rooms and small exhibitions throughout the Museum of the Home, do not forget to pop by the secret garden at the back.
Said garden is split into various smaller gardens reflecting the aesthetics, plants, flowers and trees of each century, with benches, a herb garden, and a pergola.
London’s Museum of the Home, a Free Hidden Gem in Hoxton
I feel like the Museum of the Home is everything: it’s one of my favorite places in the city, and if you’re into historical sites and all things of the past, that’s definitely a London spot to see.
I love that there’s a succession of secret gardens at the back, and the period rooms are absolutely stunning.
Unfortunately, when I visited, a few Rooms Through Time were closed – all those after the 1830 Drawing Room I showed you in this post.
When you visit, you will be able to see much more than I did, including rooms from the 1970s and 1990s: I can’t wait to discover these ones!
There’s also a great museum gift shop at the Museum of the Home that I can’t but recommend; there, I treated myself to a wonderful book, Maximalism, and have found many other titles and things to buy there.
After your visit, why not discover the nearby Shoreditch area, or make your way to Liverpool Street and Spitalfields to stroll along vintage shopfronts and historical sites?
Or, maybe you’d like to discover other free museums?
One of them, the Young V&A Museum, is located close by in Bethnal Green, and you’ll find even more history at the secret Ragged School Museum in Mile End, also in East London!
Museum of the Home, London
Address: 136 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8EA
Website: Museum of the Home