London’s Quirky Museums: Funeral, Novelty, Hospital
Anybody who knows me, knows I love quirky things. One of the things I do when researching a trip to a new city is to Google, “quirky museums” there. And, sometimes, by flaneuring, I am lucky enough to stumble upon a quirky museum. Either way, I try to never pass up a chance to visit one.
If you are visiting London, England you could easily plan your entire trip around visiting quirky museums. Places like the Pollock Toy Museum; Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History; Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising; Clowns’ Gallery & Museum and The Vagina Museum all fit the criteria. I didn’t visit any of them, but they sound interesting.
When visiting in 2019, I was fortunate to stumble upon three other quirky museums – The Funeral Museum, the Novelty Automation and the St. Bartholomew Hospital Museum.
“Divorce,” Novelty Automation Museum
The Funeral Museum
The Funeral Museum is located in Clerkenwell, just off Farringdon Road, at 29-31 Roseberry Ave. in the basement of H.E. Pierce Funeral Directors - a working funeral parlour. How appropriate is that?
Opened in 2017, it houses the personal collection of Thomas Treacy, one of the funeral directors. One thing visitors will notice when wandering off of London’s tourist streets is that it is common to see a funeral parlour mixed in with the shops and restaurants. And that is the case with H.E. Pierce. They are just another part of everyday life.
Fortunately, we were staying close to the Funeral Museum, which made it easy to visit, as it has limited hours (Wednesdays from 1 to 4 pm.) You may also be able to set-up an appointment on a different day - call (+44 20 3797 4220) to find a mutually agreeable time.
A narrow staircase takes you down to the basement where a dozen glass display cases each telling a story of funeral rites of a different culture - Egyptian, Assyrian, Hindu, Muslim and various Chinese sects. The history notes are brief, but informative. The walls are full of photos with more information.
There are lots of quirky stories like:
Fred Baruch, creator of the Pringles (potato chip) tube requested that some of his cremated remains be buried in a Pringle's container.
The iconic London red telephone box was modeled after the mausoleum of renowned British architect Sir John Soane in the St. Pancras old churchyard?
It is probably a 20 to 30 minute visit as the basement isn’t any bigger than a typical mid-century bungalow basement in North America, but there’s lots to see and do nearby.
Admission Free. Donations welcomed.
Novelty Automation Museum
We literally stumbled upon Novelty Automation, when wandering home from The British Museum. Located on 1a Princeton Street, just off of Red Lion Square Gardens, you could easily miss it. (And it didn’t appear on Google searches of “strange quirky museums of London.”)
Look for the small Tudor House building (there is a large sign on the façade of the building). Located on the main floor, the space is full of machines that are more like works of art and quirky engineering machines.
The names are hilarious – Money Laundering, Pet or Meat, AutoFrisk, What is Art? On the back of the “What is art?” piece is a selection of historical cartoons about art, with a piece about the history of art snobbery. Link: Art Snobbery
My favourite piece was “Divorce.” There is even a YouTube video of a couple operating the “Divorce” machine works.
Check their website for information on the history of each machine, as well as the history of arcade machines, vending machines, fruit machines, video games and simulator rides.
Link: History of Arcade Machines
This museum is also probably a 20 to 30 minute visit - depending on how many of the machines you want to try.
Hours are Saturdays (11am to 6 pm and Thursdays 12 to 8 pm)
Admission is free.
Tokens for machines are £1 each, 10 tokens for £9 and 33 tokens for £25.
FYI: It takes 33 tokens to try every machine.
St. Bartholomew Hospital Museum
This museum, located in the 900-year old hospital’s historic North Wing, includes a grand staircase which showcases spectacular paintings by William Hogarth and overlooks the 18th century square designed by James Gibbs.
The museum is full of medical artifacts that not only tell the fascinating story of the history of medicine in London, but also how advances in medicine parallel other major world events.
It is a reminder of how primitive life was just a few hundred years ago. And It is a “must see” for history buffs. The artifacts on display are only a small part of the collection. Real keeners, can search the entire collection at BartsHealth.
Admission free. Reserve at least an hour to tour the museum as there is lots to see and read.
The Grand Staircase with William Hogarth paintings depicting The Good Samaritan and The Pool of Bethesda.
Some of the figures are said to be modelled on real patients.
One of dozens of display cases with artifacts and story boards.
Malt shovel, probably used in the Hospital’s brewhouse which began making beer in 1739. Patients drank small (or weak) beer as part of their diet.
Marx Memorial Library
Marx Memorial Library & Workers' School was founded in 1933 with the aim of advancing education, knowledge and learning in all aspects of the science of Marxism, the history of Socialism and the working class movement.
At the heart of the British Labour Movement for over eighty years, the Library is home to a unique collection of published and archival sources on related subjects including the trade unionism, peace and solidarity movements and the Spanish Civil War.
The Library’s education programme – online and onsite – examines subjects ranging from Marxist political economy to socialist art. The Library itself is a historic building rooted in Clerkenwell’s radical tradition.
We stumbled upon this museum like library as it was just a few blocks from our AirBnb. It is only open to the public by appointment Wednesday and Thursday 11 am to 4pm. We were wandering by one day when it was open so we wandered in and they let us in. It is amazing the layers of history that exist in old European cities.
In addition to this mural, there are lots of posters and other artifacts in the library, making it museum-like.
You would never know the Library is in this building.
The Library is very “old school” which adds to the museum-like experience.
Other quirky museums we’ve discovered:
Potato Museum, Blackfoot, Idaho
Museum of Clean, Pocatello, Idaho
Castor Pharmacy Museum, Castor, Alberta
Gopher Museum, Torrington, Alberta
Three Quirky Museums, University of Arizona, Tucson
One of our best quirky museum finds was at the University of Arizona where we discovered the Schaefer Poetry Centre, the Pharmacy Museum and the Museum of Optics (MOO).
Blog Link: University of Arizona: Quirky Museums
Last Word
Whether it is a big city like London UK, or a small town like Torrington, Alberta be on the lookout for a quirky museum. They can be a lot of fun and even informative.
Unfortunately, all of these museums are closed rnow due to COVID restrictions, but I hope you have enjoyed these virtual museum visits. It was great fun for me to pull it together i.e. looking at the old photos and reliving our past trips.
Here’s hoping we will be able to travel again soon.