The Natural History Museum in London is set to reopen a hidden gallery that has been sealed off to the public since 1943.
Opening on 16 September for an initial 18 months, it will house Nature and Us, an exhibition supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
The museum said the exhibition will explore “our evolving relationship with the natural world through 50 remarkable objects”.
Natural History Museum’s Nature and Us brings together 50 objects exploring humanity’s relationship with the natural worldNatural History Museum
Nature and Us will feature key specimens and historic objects, including a miniature model of a Crystal Palace dinosaur, a Victorian monk seal skeleton named Jenny, a bryozoan-covered 1980s Star Wars toy, and a 400,000-year-old handaxe.
Visitors to the gallery will also be able to touch a replica jaw from one of Britain’s earliest known domesticated dogs, dating to around 14,300 years ago.
Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum, said: "Reopening this remarkable gallery is an exciting moment for the museum.
"For the first time in over 80 years, visitors will be able to step into this beautiful historic space and explore our changing relationship with the natural world. It's another important step in our NHM150 transformation as we create new spaces that inspire people to become advocates for the planet."
Located on the second floor of the museum’s Waterhouse building, the hidden gallery once served as both an osteology (skeleton) gallery and a mammals gallery.
Natural History Museum’s NHM150 programme will transform a gallery each year ahead of its 150th anniversary Natural History Museum
Following damage to the museum’s original herbarium during the Second World War, the gallery was repurposed to house the botanical collections and closed to the public.
Original wooden herbarium cabinets remain in the gallery, reflecting its history as a scientific collections space.
Nature and Us is part of NHM150, a transformation programme that will see the museum open a new or revitalised gallery each year ahead of its 150th anniversary in 2031.
This follows the success of the museum’s Fixing Our Broken Planet gallery, which has welcomed 3 million visitors since opening in 2025.
