Geffrye Museum

Geffrye Museum Review

Here's where you can explore the life of London' middle class over the years (in contrast to the lifestyle evoked by the West End's grand aristocratic town houses). Originally a row of almshouses built in 1714 by Sir Robert Geffrye, a former Lord Mayor of London, this charming museum contains a series of 11 rooms that re-create everyday domestic interiors from the Elizabethan period through the 1950s to the present day. The almshouses were transformed into a museum after the pensioners who lived here were relocated to a healthier part of town in 1914, and one almshouse was restored to its original condition (to visit the almshouse you must go as part of a tour, which is offered at specific times each month). Outside, four period gardens chart the evolution of the town garden over the past 400 years, and next to them is a walled herb garden. The museum's extension wing houses the 20th-century galleries, a lovely café overlooking the gardens, and a bookshop.