Victorian stuff in London

davidlizard

Daughter is studying the Victorians at school.

Can anyone recommend stuff or an itinary to visit in London which would be a good day out that would complement her studies. She is 7 so nothing too gruesome!

My immediate thoughts were the V&A museum, but a look at their website shows it to be more art/design type stuff. Really looking for things to give a good insight into how they lived, etc.

I am at a loss to think of anything. A few months ago she was studying the Great Fire of London so we did a 3 mile walk across town (recommended on this very forum!!) that took in pudding lane, monument, St Pauls and other Wren churches, that sort of thing, which was brilliant and I learnt loads myself. Something similar would be great.

Miss_J

We're off to London in a couple of weeks time and I've been looking into where to take the kids that is relatively cheap/ free. Have you looked at the Museum of London? Not just focussing on Victorians but all eras in Londons' development. It looks a really interesting place to take kids of that age, mine are 10 and 7. Bonus is it's free.

Alikay

I'd second the Museum of London. The area around Whitechapel, Spitalfields market and Shoreditch has some nice Victorian architecture, plus the Jack the Ripper connection (maybe a bit creepy for a yr 7, but it's of the era and not too scary if explored in daylight!). The Geffrye Museum up at Hoxton is worth a look too as it has lots of interiors of middle class homes through the ages, inc. Victorian. The museums are free, and all are east London.

http://www.geffrye-museum.org.uk
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/london-wall/

porlock

I third the Museum of London suggestion- it's a great little museum, especially being free, and it should give you a great overview of the city at the time.

I realise that she is only 7, but you could do something like this Dickens tour:
http://www.walksoflondon.co.uk/31/oliver-twist-london-bridg.shtml
She might not necessarily appreciate the fact that she's seeing locations that he wrote about, but I think this might be the most focussed way of finding prominent Victorian sites.

vikingaero

I Fourth the Museum of London. Also try the MOL in Docklands and the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.

Fen1

The Charles Dickens Museum is free for under 10's, but adults cost £7.

The Tate Gallery is free for all and is an excellent example of Victorian architecture, art and mores. The Pre-Raphaelites are usually a hit with children as the style is comprehensible and fairy-tale-ish.

You could also try the sewage system. ( Seriously! ) Crossness Pumping Station demonstrates a lot about the Victorians: the concern about public health; industrialisation and huge building/infrastructure projects; civic pride; art and function - the building is beautiful and elaborate in Arabic style ( you don't get that sort of investement in public buildings anymore ).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossness_Pumping_Station
http://www.crossness.org.uk/

w211

Maybe you could pay a quick visit to the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden as they will have plenty of history on London Transport during Victorian times (obviously will just be about transport and possibly not much else).

davidlizard

Many thanks all for the suggestions. Lots of recommendations to follow up!

We visited the Museum of London at the end of our "Great Fire of London" trip recently and agree that it is an excellent museum. Could be worth dropping back in again specifically to visit the Victorian bit as we only browsed through that period when we visited.

We went into the London Transport Museum a couple of weeks back. That is also an brilliant place to visit, especially when you have a 3 year old who is mad about buses!

Crossness looks intriguing - especially for those into industrial history (i.e. me!) but it being upgraded - however, that is filed away for 2013!

Dickens is something I will look at in more detail. That Geffrye museum looks good - I have promised my daughter a curry in Brick Lane so that's another trip out coming together.

Many thanks again.

SueMaggie

There's a downloadable Dickens walking tour here on the Oliver! website which might be suitable.

PennyMoney

Linley Sambourne House at 18 Stafford Terrace is a Victorian House preserved with all its original decor and contents. I think it costs £6 for adults and £1 for children. They seem to only do guided tours though so you would probably need to book ahead.