Horniman Museum And Gardens

Orange is one of the brightest colours on the spectrum so obviously, it has always captured the human imagination. Find out why in our latest blog post.
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/get_involv…/ …/saffron-and-oranges

What does Clare Youngs hold dear? This quilt made by her great-grandmother, "To have my stitches next to my great grandmothers' is a nice feeling to have."
What has been handed down through your family? Tell us your stories.
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/visit/displays /world-gallery… #WorldGallery

Don't forget to join us for our Big Wednesday tomorrow: Shared World 🌍🌏🌎
We will have nature notebooks, clay crafting, performances from St Christopher's Hospice, Mary Seacole's tour and curator talks happening throughout the day.
Join us from 10.30am.

This week in Family Art Fun you can make mini totem poles. Join us Tuesday or Friday to let your creativity run wild.
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/visit/events/f amily-art-fun-1296

CBeebies presenter and "nature nut" Ferne Corrigan tells us about her salad servers from Malawi are so special to her.
What do you own that has been handcrafted? Which objects remind you of your travels?
Send us your stories.
... https://www.horniman.ac.uk/world #WorldGallery
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Join us for our next Big Wednesday for a day of free, family-friendly fun.
Join St Christopher's Hospice for "Glimmer and the Goddess", a clay and drawing arts workshop and performance.
Create Nature Notebooks to help you explore the Gardens, or chat to a Curator in the World Gallery about what objects you love the most.
... Let 1800s nurse Mrs Seacole tell you her amazing story or hear from Horniman staff about how objects come to the Museum.
#SharedWorld #WorldGallery
See More

Be dazzled by how colours are made and perceived, discover how animals use colour to attract and hide, and look into how different colours mean many different things for people across the planet with Colour: The Rainbow Revealed.
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/…/ex…/colo ur-the-rainbow-revealed

Happy birthday to Poppy the Alpaca. She's grown up right before our eyes and we couldn't be more proud of the inquisitive, playful, adorable, big furball she is.
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/visit/displays /animal-walk

Actress Kellie Shirley tells us about her treasured object - a piece of The Royal Court Theatre stage from 1888.
What objects are special to you? Tell us your stories.
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/world #WorldGallery

This seems as good a day as any to break out the Viking drinking mugs (actually from 1796) and raise a toast. #InternationalBeerDay
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/1628

Don't forget to join us this evening for another of our Sunset Sessions. This evening we'll be joined by K.O.G & The Zongo Brigade, a nine piece ensemble who will be bringing you West African jams.
https://business.facebook.com/events/2009 51330550195/

You've not got long left to see Karen Dodd's Coral: Fabric of the Reef at the Horniman. Karen Dodd uses woollen fabric to draw attention to coral and coral reefs, inspired by the Horniman collections.
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/…/exhib…/c oral-fabric-of-the-reef

'Ey up! It's #YorkshireDay. We've got plenty of objects associated with Yorkshire in our collections, like this medal commemorating the Grand Old Duke of York himself.
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/authori ty/place-1267

What does Dame Evelyn Glennie hold dear? This waterphone, which not only looks beautiful but sounds beautiful too.
What do you own that means most to you?
What do you hold dear?
... Send us your stories.
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/world #WorldGallery
See More

The glass harmonica or armonica was invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761 having been inspired by concerts in Britain in which a performer stroked the edge of wine glasses filled with water.
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/M14.12. 55/1
#UncommonInstrumentAwarenessDay

Join us for our Big Wednesday tomorrow packed full of Horniman favourites, from Jambs Owls to puppet shows. 🦉🎎🎭
Join in the fun from 10.30am.

Discover underwater worlds full of mystery and beauty in our Aquarium. Visit a mangrove swamp or a coral reef all right here in Forest Hill.
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/visit/displays /aquarium

The Summer Holidays are upon us so we've got plenty planned to keep the whole family entertained. Find out what's happening at the Horniman this August.
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/…/happening- at-the-horniman-augu…

Wayne Hemingway from Hemingway Design tells us about how one EP by Buzzcocks sparked off a life of creativity.
What objects mean most to you? What do you own that you hold dear? Send us your stories.
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/world #WorldGallery

It's #InternationalTigerDay you say? The only way to celebrate is to come by and see the magnificent tiger we've got in on loan from Natural History Museum, London then surely?
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/visit/exhibiti ons/bengal-tiger

What a great resource this is - and free! I was impressed by the natural history and ethnographic exhibits. The park and gardens are gorgeous and there was a fun sundial trail. I went on a Saturday and had the added bonus of a Farmers Market. Fantastic Kent fruit and organic meat etc. I thoroughly recommend this museum, especially for families.

We were lucky enough to have a friend with a pass that got myself and my 2 kids 9 and 7 in for free. If we had to pay I would rate it 3-4 stars depending on the price.

The interactive area is great for young children. Maybe 9-10 is the limit here, but my 9 year old enjoyed it.

The aquarium is small but really worth a look. Some weird fish and amphibians from around the world.

The butterfly house, which we had a booked timeslot for was small again, but still really fabulous, especially if your little ones haven't done that before.

I thought the music garden was a nice touch. If it were a nice day you can see views of London towers.

There's a small petting zoo and stuffed animals - taxidermy room too.

Quite a variety of different things to see and do. Very educational for kids and maybe adults.

I thought it was a fun way to spend a day.

I suppose London museums are free and pretty wonderful, but if you don't want to venture into the centre, this place is a good alternative.

Today we held a party in the Pavilion in the grounds of the museum and its been wonderful!



Both the events and catering staff were incredibly friendly and helpful, especially Harriet from the events team who has been a diamond as we live overseas and relied on her to organize everything. Id definitely recommend it as a venue!

I went to Horniman Museum as a child many times as I lived just down the road. Visited yesterday with my Daughter and 3year old Granddaughter, who absolutely loved it! We visited the butterfly house, she was very excited when one landed on her coat. She stroked a goat outside in the little farm area. She enjoyed playing in the music area and looking around the gardens. We had lunch outside, although the cafe was very busy we found a table quickly. She enjoyed the , 'colour room' we also watched a little film. The museum itself was very interesting too, I remembered lots of things from my childhood. Although the aquarium is fairly small it's very good, we went round twice! We visited the gift shop too. A fun day was had by all!!

Had a great time at the museum yesterday and really enjoyed the gardens in the sun. I can also recommend the café. I was seriously impressed with the delicious hummus I was served! And compared to other museum cafes I thought the prices were very reasonable.

Great location, great exhibition particularly for my eldest who has autism he loved the mood room and was very open plan and he was able to interact and appropriately play with things.



Good value for a long day out.

Great day out. Plenty to see and do. The museum and gardens are free but some of the activities are not and they are not cheap. Plenty for children to see and do and room for them to run around outside. Also a farm which is free but u do have to pay to go to the butterfly house, aquarium and activity room. Plenty of places to eat and drink. Highly recommend the place.

Fantastic day at horniman’s museum in forest hill. Highly recommended for anyone with young kids. So nice to go somewhere where Elizabeth can run and touch and interact. Lovely to be somewhere that isn’t ‘don’t touch’ or ‘be quiet’. Will go back on a warmer day to explore the outside and gardens. £9 each for me and Simon to see the butterflies and aquarium, free for Elizabeth. Everything else free and each section has an interactive room where the kids can touch and see. Amazing place!!! Enjoyed by us as much as Elizabeth.

Absolutely loved this place. Local to where we were staying, beautiful gardens and a great cafe! It's not as big as the Natural History Museum but I felt it was perfect for small kids who easily get too tired in the big one and never see everything anyway. I felt that was a great combination of Natural History and London Aquarium and perfect for our group with kids age 4 to 10. There also have a small animals farm but we run out of time, and we were there from 11.30am. Had a game of crazy golf too!

Would definitely recommend this place for families.

Went with two of our grandchildren and had a fabulous time. Worse part was trying to get a table in the cafe but that was to be expected during the Easter holidays.

Staff were very friendly and helpful. Grandchildren had been several times but it was a first (& not the last) visit for my husband and I. Would certainly recommend.

We took the granddaughters to this Museum. They enjoyed it as did we. It was lovely to see the aquarium and the butterflies. All the exhibits were well worth a look, but as in most of these places, to buy anything is expensive. Add the extras to the family ticket price and a few hours turns out to be quite costly.

We had a lovely day out here yesterday, although I feel the pricing is a bit ambitious compared to what you actually get. The pricing structure is also a tad complicated, having to pay for things separately...then just getting one extra 'room' for your hard earned pound. The gardens are lovely, esp the music area & the cafe is well stocked, although a few extra tables outside would go a bit towards a better overall experience.

Visited 7 Feb 2018. Smaller than I imagined, only 4 sections opened in the museum, others were closed. Despite this we had a very pleasant visit. The Butterfly House was a brilliant experience as was the small but very interesting Aquarium, although there are not free. My only real 'complaint' was that the staff in the Butterfly House seemed to have little knowledge of butterflies!!

On the whole it was really nice and worth the trip and hopefully when we return more sections will be open.

Great selection of things to see and do every time you visit (we purchased an annual pass as a result) However, the food is just too expensive to justify eating on-premise for every visit so will be bringing our own food moving forward although this doesn't take away from the museum itself and its purpose.

Great day out for little ones. The colour exhibition was wonderful lists of space for my little man to run around and explore. It’s a shame the garden doesn’t have a play ground not much to do for under 5.

We have just left feeling very deflated. We go lots of museums in our free time with the children, and have been eagerly anticipating coming to Horniman because apparently it is excellent for young ones and is top 10 in the world? Not what we experienced whatsoever. We travelled 2 hours for 3 small free rooms open. All the interactive ones were closed for schools or events (no mention I could find on their website). All the paid for stuff was "small" according to the staff so we didn't bother and left after half an hour. Central London free museums blew us away (docklands and national science definitely deserve a place in top 10 for kids!) Very disappointed after all the hype about it.

Terrible café and broken, stinky bathrooms but the expos were interesting and well put together. The aquarium is small but very nice & butterfly house is lovely. Very interactive and fun for young children. Gardens are lovely.

Great afternoon spent here, we paid for the aquarium which the kids loved and just visited the other rooms which were free. The only negative which was very disappointing was that we had to eat outside as we'd brought our own food. No tables available in the over priced and very busy cafe which made it very tricky with young children. With constant rain you should allow families to eat inside.

Very over priced for the festival...street market was ridiculously priced and not much of a selection for the kids to eat.. not impressed won't be going to that again �

What a great resource this is - and free! I was impressed by the natural history and ethnographic exhibits. The park and gardens are gorgeous and there was a fun sundial trail. I went on a Saturday and had the added bonus of a Farmers Market. Fantastic Kent fruit and organic meat etc. I thoroughly recommend this museum, especially for families.

We were lucky enough to have a friend with a pass that got myself and my 2 kids 9 and 7 in for free. If we had to pay I would rate it 3-4 stars depending on the price.

The interactive area is great for young children. Maybe 9-10 is the limit here, but my 9 year old enjoyed it.

The aquarium is small but really worth a look. Some weird fish and amphibians from around the world.

The butterfly house, which we had a booked timeslot for was small again, but still really fabulous, especially if your little ones haven't done that before.

I thought the music garden was a nice touch. If it were a nice day you can see views of London towers.

There's a small petting zoo and stuffed animals - taxidermy room too.

Quite a variety of different things to see and do. Very educational for kids and maybe adults.

I thought it was a fun way to spend a day.

I suppose London museums are free and pretty wonderful, but if you don't want to venture into the centre, this place is a good alternative.

Today we held a party in the Pavilion in the grounds of the museum and its been wonderful!



Both the events and catering staff were incredibly friendly and helpful, especially Harriet from the events team who has been a diamond as we live overseas and relied on her to organize everything. Id definitely recommend it as a venue!

I went to Horniman Museum as a child many times as I lived just down the road. Visited yesterday with my Daughter and 3year old Granddaughter, who absolutely loved it! We visited the butterfly house, she was very excited when one landed on her coat. She stroked a goat outside in the little farm area. She enjoyed playing in the music area and looking around the gardens. We had lunch outside, although the cafe was very busy we found a table quickly. She enjoyed the , 'colour room' we also watched a little film. The museum itself was very interesting too, I remembered lots of things from my childhood. Although the aquarium is fairly small it's very good, we went round twice! We visited the gift shop too. A fun day was had by all!!

Had a great time at the museum yesterday and really enjoyed the gardens in the sun. I can also recommend the café. I was seriously impressed with the delicious hummus I was served! And compared to other museum cafes I thought the prices were very reasonable.

Great location, great exhibition particularly for my eldest who has autism he loved the mood room and was very open plan and he was able to interact and appropriately play with things.



Good value for a long day out.

Great day out. Plenty to see and do. The museum and gardens are free but some of the activities are not and they are not cheap. Plenty for children to see and do and room for them to run around outside. Also a farm which is free but u do have to pay to go to the butterfly house, aquarium and activity room. Plenty of places to eat and drink. Highly recommend the place.

Fantastic day at horniman’s museum in forest hill. Highly recommended for anyone with young kids. So nice to go somewhere where Elizabeth can run and touch and interact. Lovely to be somewhere that isn’t ‘don’t touch’ or ‘be quiet’. Will go back on a warmer day to explore the outside and gardens. £9 each for me and Simon to see the butterflies and aquarium, free for Elizabeth. Everything else free and each section has an interactive room where the kids can touch and see. Amazing place!!! Enjoyed by us as much as Elizabeth.

Absolutely loved this place. Local to where we were staying, beautiful gardens and a great cafe! It's not as big as the Natural History Museum but I felt it was perfect for small kids who easily get too tired in the big one and never see everything anyway. I felt that was a great combination of Natural History and London Aquarium and perfect for our group with kids age 4 to 10. There also have a small animals farm but we run out of time, and we were there from 11.30am. Had a game of crazy golf too!

Would definitely recommend this place for families.

Went with two of our grandchildren and had a fabulous time. Worse part was trying to get a table in the cafe but that was to be expected during the Easter holidays.

Staff were very friendly and helpful. Grandchildren had been several times but it was a first (& not the last) visit for my husband and I. Would certainly recommend.

We took the granddaughters to this Museum. They enjoyed it as did we. It was lovely to see the aquarium and the butterflies. All the exhibits were well worth a look, but as in most of these places, to buy anything is expensive. Add the extras to the family ticket price and a few hours turns out to be quite costly.

We had a lovely day out here yesterday, although I feel the pricing is a bit ambitious compared to what you actually get. The pricing structure is also a tad complicated, having to pay for things separately...then just getting one extra 'room' for your hard earned pound. The gardens are lovely, esp the music area & the cafe is well stocked, although a few extra tables outside would go a bit towards a better overall experience.

Visited 7 Feb 2018. Smaller than I imagined, only 4 sections opened in the museum, others were closed. Despite this we had a very pleasant visit. The Butterfly House was a brilliant experience as was the small but very interesting Aquarium, although there are not free. My only real 'complaint' was that the staff in the Butterfly House seemed to have little knowledge of butterflies!!

On the whole it was really nice and worth the trip and hopefully when we return more sections will be open.

Great selection of things to see and do every time you visit (we purchased an annual pass as a result) However, the food is just too expensive to justify eating on-premise for every visit so will be bringing our own food moving forward although this doesn't take away from the museum itself and its purpose.

Great day out for little ones. The colour exhibition was wonderful lists of space for my little man to run around and explore. It’s a shame the garden doesn’t have a play ground not much to do for under 5.

We have just left feeling very deflated. We go lots of museums in our free time with the children, and have been eagerly anticipating coming to Horniman because apparently it is excellent for young ones and is top 10 in the world? Not what we experienced whatsoever. We travelled 2 hours for 3 small free rooms open. All the interactive ones were closed for schools or events (no mention I could find on their website). All the paid for stuff was "small" according to the staff so we didn't bother and left after half an hour. Central London free museums blew us away (docklands and national science definitely deserve a place in top 10 for kids!) Very disappointed after all the hype about it.

Terrible café and broken, stinky bathrooms but the expos were interesting and well put together. The aquarium is small but very nice & butterfly house is lovely. Very interactive and fun for young children. Gardens are lovely.

Great afternoon spent here, we paid for the aquarium which the kids loved and just visited the other rooms which were free. The only negative which was very disappointing was that we had to eat outside as we'd brought our own food. No tables available in the over priced and very busy cafe which made it very tricky with young children. With constant rain you should allow families to eat inside.

Very over priced for the festival...street market was ridiculously priced and not much of a selection for the kids to eat.. not impressed won't be going to that again �