London: A Busy Beehive

The Museum of London is an oddly shaped building that is located in an industrial part of London. The museum’s exterior, comprised of dark gray stones, makes the museum appear dreary and unwelcoming. On the inside, however, the museum is like a busy beehive. It is filled with cafés, a souvenir-filled gift shop, and many exhibitions that range from the time of the cave man to modern day London. The museum brings the history, the many types of people that have populated London, and the many dilemmas and the crises of the English people.

The Romans, the Protestants, and eventually the Chinese and Muslims, and many other people from other nations all came to live in London. There were a few exhibits I truly found very entertaining and interesting. The exhibition on the Romans showed how they contributed to British culture by developing stone paved roads, aqueducts, and currency. The exhibition on the Reformation showed how the Church of England was developed and how the church united the British people under one religion. The Exhibition on London’s Great fire showed how fires were pretty common in London. London experienced fires frequently through out the past two thousand years, starting in 60 AD and continuing through 1666 when the Great Fire occurred and lasting till present day. One of London’s greatest threat still remains to be fire. The Victorian exhibit showed the many innovations created during the reign of Queen Victoria in the 1800s such as stagecoaches, railways, a sewage system, and electricity. Lastly, the modern day exhibit ended with a collection of clothing demonstrating the “London Look” through the years, ranging from the 1950s till present day. I was interested in learning about what the “London Look” consisted of. According to the inscription, the “London Look” is “is a melting pot with a rebellious edge. It brought street style to the catwalk, mixed British traditions with ethnic sensibilities and valued irreverence, innovation, and wit. The “London Look” expresses the broader spirit of London, an idiosyncratic, post-colonial world-city, mixing old and new.”

After finishing my tour at the Museum of London, I realized how diverse London truly is. A quote I stumbled upon in the museum does a wonderful job in accurately describing the city of London as the following: “London is the great beehive of Christendom…she swarms with people of all ages, natures, sexes, callings…she seems to be a glutton, for she desires to always to be full.”