Discover how homes have changed in the past 400 years. The museum’s eleven period rooms span from 1600 to the present day. Each room represents the main living space used by a family and their guests. How people would have lived in the rooms, alongside the furnishings, lighting and heating, show how homes and home life have changed over time, reflecting changes in society, behaviour, style, taste and the wider world.
Enjoy the tranquility of the museum’s period gardens – an urban oasis in the heart of Hoxton, an area of London once renowned for its horticultural expertise. The period gardens, behind the museum, illustrate how domestic gardens have evolved over the past four centuries. The gardens at the front of the museum are open all year round and provide a lush, green space just off busy Kingsland Road.
Step back in time and visit the restored almshouse. One of the 18th-century almshouses in which the museum is housed has been restored and been taken back to its original condition and provides a glimpse into the lives of London’s poor and elderly in the 1780s and 1880s.
