Places near me Random place
All the United Kingdom England London Natural History Museum of London

Natural History Museum of London

Eighty million natural history specimens call this gargantuan museum home.

London, England

Added By
Allison Meier
Swinging monkey skeletons   Allison (Atlas Obscura User)
July 31, 2016   Pengwn (Atlas Obscura User)
Dramatic entrance to the Earth Galleries   Allison (Atlas Obscura User)
A hunter remembered   Allison (Atlas Obscura User)
Main hall   Allison (Atlas Obscura User)
Statue of Darwin   Allison (Atlas Obscura User)
Monkey carved on a banister   Allison (Atlas Obscura User)
A carved dodo bird on the wall of the museum   Allison (Atlas Obscura User)
The Cursed Amethyst   Allison (Atlas Obscura User)
A fearsome taxidermy specimen of a Tasmanian devil   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
A bear foetus   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
A bear foetus   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
Heads of extinct Hawaiian huia birds   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
A ferocious Tasmanian devil taxidermy specimen.   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
Realistic recreation of an extinct dodo   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
2017-The entrance to the earth galleries is now part of a spectacular lighting effect.   Dr Alan P Newman (Atlas Obscura User)
Kiwi taxidermy specimen   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
Brazilian three banded armadillo taxidermy   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
Taxidermy specimen of an extinct Carolina parakeet   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
Taxidermy specimen of an extinct great auk   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
Pop up conservation studio with the blue whale jaw bones on display   ariadnemaze (Atlas Obscura User)
The Mammals Hall   ariadnemaze (Atlas Obscura User)
The annual ice rink outside the museum   ariadnemaze (Atlas Obscura User)
Queue to enter during peak summer tourist season   ariadnemaze (Atlas Obscura User)
Hornbill beak , part of the avian evolution display   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
Taxidermy owl heads , part of the avian evolution display   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
Close up of an Ethiopian wolf taxidermy specimen   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
Front facade - one of the most recognisable buildings in London   petrahudson (Atlas Obscura User)
Lots of cleverly done displays   petrahudson (Atlas Obscura User)
Some unusual critters to be seen.   petrahudson (Atlas Obscura User)
The annual Christmas extravaganza   petrahudson (Atlas Obscura User)
Koala and tree kangaroo   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
Snake in the spirit collection   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
A Malayan tapir taxidermy specimen   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
African elephant taxidermy specimen   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
2019 exhibition "Museum of the moon"   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
An extremely rare taxidermy specimen of an endangered Javan rhinoceros   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
A Papua new Guinean Cuscus and an Australian oppossum , strange marsupials   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
Skeleton of a giant ground sloth , a gargantuan Prehistoric beast   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
Rhinos in the mammal hall : Black rhino on the left and Sumatran rhino on right   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
A Tamandua anteater taxidermy specimen   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
View of African elephant taxidermy and view of the mammal hall   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
A fruit bat (also known as a flying fox) taxidermy specimen   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
A miniature sting ray in the spirit collection   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
A jar full of long dead midwife toads   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
A 1759 painting of the extinct dodo and (still surviving) macaws   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
A long dead tree frog in the spirit collection   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
Upside down African agama lizard in the spirit collection   Monsieur Mictlan (Atlas Obscura User)
The skeleton of a blue whale hangs from the ceiling in the main hall.   Kerry Wolfe (Atlas Obscura User)
"Hope" the whale.   loremipsum (Atlas Obscura User)
Hall of Minerals   Allison (Atlas Obscura User)
Natural History Museum of Londo   Xavixavir (Atlas Obscura User)
Taxidermy animals and a whale skeleton   Allison (Atlas Obscura User)
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Established in 1881, the Natural History Museum of London has an impressive 70 million specimens in its stately walls.

Based on the collection of Sir Hans Sloane, the museum now includes such star wonders as Archie the Giant Squid who resides in the Darwin Centre Spirit Collection of jarred specimens (Archie can't be in the main museum as its weight would cause it to crash through the floor), as well as a cursed amethyst and a piece of Kryptonite. Some of the specimens were even collected by Charles Darwin himself, a statue of whom sits in the main hall near a replica of a Diplodocus donated by Andrew Carnegie. 

The building was constructed with terracotta tiles in order to resist the soot in the air of Victorian London, with the west wing and the east wing are adorned with images of living and extinct species, respectively. However, you may note a coelacanth in the extinct animals wing, as it was of course only recently that ancient fish was revealed to still be living on our planet. 

In 2015 it was controversially announced that the popular diplodocus skeleton in the main hall (it can be seen in one of the photos) would be removed on the grounds that it was not a genuine skeleton. This resulted in a well supported "save Dippy" campaign, but the decision stands to give pride of place to the real skeleton of a blue whale. 

As such, in 2017, a blue whale skeleton was hung from the ceiling. The sea creature, which had been injured by whalers, was found beached in Ireland in 1891.

The museum is also a fully functional laboratory, with more than 300 scientists working in a variety of fields related to biology & geology. Taking a behind the scenes tour or visiting the newly renovated Darwin Centre Cocoon you can see them at work. The building also contains a massive research archive, library, and operational labs.

Related Tags

Museums Natural History Museums Museums And Collections Natural History Dodos Extinct Animals

Know Before You Go

The Queen's Gate entrance is best for visiting Dinosaurs, and the Exhibition Road entrance is best for Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Volcanoes and Earthquakes.


The Natural History Museum organizes "Lates" with talks/lectures, exhibitions, and visitors being able to visit the galleries after dark, making for an atmospheric experience.

Community Contributors

Added By

Allison

Published

September 2, 2013

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos

Nearby Places

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of London

London

England

Places 503
Stories 107

Related Stories and Lists

Related Places

  • A Nicobar Tree Shrew in the Grant Museum of Zoology

    London, England

    Grant Museum of Zoology

    The only university zoological museum in London houses extinct animals, bizarre natural history specimens, and a Micrarium of microscopic creatures.

  • Museum für Naturkunde

    Berlin, Germany

    Museum für Naturkunde

    Berlin's natural history museum houses the world's largest mounted dinosaur and the late beloved polar bear Knut.

  • Closeup of the elephant herd.

    New York, New York

    African Elephants Diorama

    This magnificent herd of stampeding elephants has been frozen in time for over a century.

  • Temnodontosaurus platyodon skull at the Lyme Regis Museum.

    Lyme Regis, England

    Lyme Regis Museum

    A local museum honors the overlooked discoveries of Mary Anning, one of the first professional fossil hunters.

  • One of the museum's dioramas of animals staged in their natural habitats.

    Birchington-on-Sea, England

    Powell-Cotton Dioramas

    An English explorer's vast natural history collection has the first realistic dioramas of animals staged in their natural habitats.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

See Fewer Ads

Become an Atlas Obscura member and experience far fewer ads

Become a Member