London Museum has received £20 million and more than 14,000 Roman artefacts from US charitable organisation Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The Bloomberg gift is the largest private donation and largest archive of archaeological material ever given to the museum.
The £20m will go towards the museum’s transformation of two historic Smithfield market buildings into its new home.
It will also be used to expand access to the museum’s collection through digital innovation, and to make new archaeological discoveries available for research and public display for the first time.
Sharon Ament, director of London Museum, said: “The collection together with this generous donation represents a momentous gift that ties the past to the future and which will be a lasting legacy for London.”
The Roman artefacts gifted to the institution were uncovered by Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) archaeologists on the site of Bloomberg’s European headquarters in the City of London between 2012 and 2014.
London Museum to open from 2026
Discoveries on the site included Britain’s largest, earliest and most significant collection of Roman writing tablets, which reveal the earliest surviving voices of Roman Londoners, including the first written reference to London.
Much of the collection has never been seen before, and will go on view in London Museum’s subterranean galleries, situated at Roman street level.
“London has an extraordinary history with so much to teach and discover,” said Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg.
“These remarkable artefacts offer a unique window into the past, connecting us directly to the voices of its ancient inhabitants.”
Set to open in 2026, London Museum is one of the largest cultural infrastructure projects in Europe.
The first phase of the £437m project – the museum’s permanent galleries in the Victorian General Market – is due to open in 2026.
The second phase – the museum‘s temporary exhibitions and collection stores in the 1960s Poultry Market – is scheduled to open in 2028.
“We are hugely ambitious for this project – from setting high standards in sustainability, to creating new apprenticeships for young people; moving the dial on digital opportunities to involving a record number of Londoners in the making of the museum,” Ament said.
“This will be a place truly of and for the city that we hope Londoners will be proud of.”
The new London Museum is “one of the most ambitious cultural projects globally and it will create a dynamic new home where London’s rich history of stories will inspire future generations”, said Bloomberg.
Images courtesy of London Museum
