Horniman Museum and Gardens
Horniman Museum and Gardens
100 London Road
Forest Hill
London
Greater London
SE23 3PQ
England
Website
Telephone
020 8699 1872
Fax
020 8291 5506
The Horniman has a unique range of exhibitions, events and activities which illustrate the cultural and natural world. Our collections of anthropology, natural history and musical instruments provide the inspiration for our programme of permanent and temporary exhibitions and events and activities. A full range of events and activities take place for different audiences including storytelling and art and craft sessions for children, and courses and workshops for adults.
This museum has Designated Collections of national importance.
Venue Type:
Museum, Library, Archive, Garden, parklands or rural site
Additional info
Our library is open to the public by appointment only.
The Ethnography and Music collections are Designated Collections of national importance.
The Museum holds in total some 350,000 objects and related items. The Horniman has three main collections, World Cultures (Ethnography) comprising 80,000 objects, Natural History with 250,000 specimens, and Music with over 7,000 instruments plus 1,000 archive documents. There is also a parallel education handling collection which has over 3,700 objects drawn from all three main disciplines and a library collection with texts and related items covering the main collection areas.
The Museum also has an active collecting policy with regular fieldwork to acquire new objects and to find out more about existing ones carried out by curators. Over 90% of the collections of Ethnography and Music have been acquired since the original bequest by Frederick Horniman in 1901. Most objects not currently on display are held in storage at the Museum's Study Collection Centre in Greenwich, while the Museum also loans objects to other institutions for exhibitions.
Collection details
World Cultures, Weapons and War, Social History, Science and Technology, Photography, Performing Arts, Natural Sciences, Music, Decorative and Applied Art, Costume and Textiles, Coins and Medals, Archives, Archaeology
Key artists and exhibits
- Designated Collection
Extremes
- 15 February — 2 November 2014 *on now
Come on an expedition to see how animals and plants survive in extreme heat, cold, dryness and constant darkness or with little oxygen in our new family friendly exhibition.
See some of the animals that live in these environments, watch films that make you shiver, feel the air-conditioning inside an ostrich’s beak, try to keep up with the drinking speed of a camel or see how much fat you have compared with a seal.
Extremes mixes hands-on experiences including games and experiments, with films and taxidermy animal specimens. This exhibition is in three languages – English, Spanish and French.
Suitable for
- Any age
- Family friendly
Languages
- Spanish
- French
Admission
£3.30 Child, £6.60 Adult, £16.50 Family (prices include 10% voluntary Gift Aid donation)
Website
http://www.horniman.ac.uk/visit/upcoming-exhibitions/extremes#image-4
Horniman Farmers' Market
- 21 September 2013 — 20 December 2014 *on now
A locally sourced, locally sold farmers' market selling vegetables, meat, fish, bread, flowers, hot food and much more in our glorious Gardens.
Suitable for
- Any age
Lewisham Healthy Walks
- 27 March 2014 11-11:45am
On the last Thursday of the month participants to stay after the walk to meet Horniman staff and learn a little more about the work of the museum. Light refreshments are provided: Thursday 30 January 2014: Explore our Aquarium and find out about our cutting edge research. Thursday 27 February: Take a tour of our new exhibition, Extremes and find out what life is like in extreme environments. Thursday 27 March 2014: Join our Music Curator for a tour of our new musical instrument exhibition.
Suitable for
- Any age
- Family friendly
Website
http://www.horniman.ac.uk/visit/events/lewisham-healthy-walks-730
Dawn Chorus Walk
- 22 March 2014 5-6:30am
Ornithologist David Darrell-Lambert will lead you around the Horniman Gardens to listen to and identify the many birds that you can hear. Afterwards, join us to have a look at and touch taxidermy examples of some of the birds whose songs you heard.
Suitable for
- 5-6
- 11-13
- 16-17
- 18+
- 14-15
- 7-10
- Family friendly
Admission
£5.00 per adult, £3.00 per child.
Website
http://www.horniman.ac.uk/visit/events/dawn-chorus-walk
Community Music Day
- 30 March 2014 12-4pm
Join us for a day of music and dance performances including African dance and drumming, Gamelan workshops, a capella singing and more!
The programme will showcase adult learning at the Horniman and talent from the local community.
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
Everyone welcome.
Easter Family Art Fun
- 7 — 18 April 2014
Join free and fabulous Horniman craft activities this half term holiday inspired by spring and Easter.
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Nature Explorers - Pond Dipping
- 8 April 2014 11am-3pm
- 15 April 2014 11am-3pm
Exploring the spring environment in the Nature Trail pond.
Suitable for
- Especially for children
- 5-6
- 7-10
- 11-13
Admission
Tickets: Child £2.00 Buy on the day.
Miss Horniman's Favourite Things
- 11 April 2014 11:30am-3pm
Join our popular tour of the Museum by our very own Miss Horniman.
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Horniman Easter Fair
- 19 — 20 April 2014 10:30am-4:30pm
Go on an Easter Egg hunt, find goodies in our special arts and crafts market, join in Bandstand fun and enjoy some food and drink.
Suitable for
- Any age
Extremes Late, as Part of Museums at Night
- 15 May 2014 6:30-9:30pm
Visit the Horniman after hours and enjoy a night of extreme art, music and quirky performances across the Museum and Gardens.
To celebrate the opening of our new family friendly exhibition Extremes, the Horniman will present how artists react to extreme environments: expect some extremely hot music from Zimbabwe, extremely high acrobatics, storytelling by candlelight, surreal film screenings depicting submarine life, as well as installations and performances by satirical artists Modern Toss.
Suitable for
- 18+
- Not suitable for children
Admission
£5
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