Review: Sir John Soane’s Museum
This fascinating house in Lincoln’s Inn Fields is stuffed full with all kinds of artefacts. It’s been on my list of places to visit for a long time. I finally went over the August bank holiday weekend
I’ve wanted to visit Sir John Soane’s Museum for almost as long as I’ve lived in London. I first read about it when I was assistant editor on London Planner, Visit London’s official listings magazine for – mostly American – tourists to London. But I’ve never actually got round to going, until now.
John Soane was an architect of the Regency era, born in 1753. He designed the Bank of England (although most of his work there has largely been destroyed) and the Dulwich Picture Gallery. But his main legacy is his own home and office in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, which comprises numbers 12, 13 and 14.
He designed the interiors of the houses to display his huge collections of art, sculpture and architectural artefacts. The result is a labyrinthine series of corridors filled with objects including Greek and Roman bronzes, Greek vases, fragments of Roman mosaics, Chinese ceramics, statuary, Peruvian pottery, furniture and much more. The 3,000-year-old sarcophagus of Seti I can be found in the museum’s basement.
In 1833, Soane obtained an Act of Parliament bequeathing the house and its contents to the British nation to be made into a museum of architecture. Soane’s son George, realising he would lose his inheritance, tried to stop the bill but failed.
The Act that led to the creation of the museum means that it must be kept as Soane left it on his death in 1837 in perpetuity. This means explanatory texts can’t be put up to describe the collections.
Entry is free, and you can either wander around on your own or join one of the free tours. These can’t be pre-booked and run on different days and at different times – check the website for details. I chose to walk around under my own steam, as did most of the other visitors. I did invest in a £3 guide booklet which provides some context and history of the pieces on show. But it can’t begin to describe everything.
There’s also a highlights tour, which must be booked in advance and costs £18. If I were to go again I think I’d book onto one of these. Looking around on my own was fascinating, but being shown around by an expert guide would provide much invaluable insight. These tours also include a visit to the private apartments where Soane lived and slept.
I very much enjoyed the museum and it’s well worth visiting. The collection is fascinating and the house itself is beautiful. Joining a tour would probably be a good idea. It has the added benefit of being very close to one of my favourite restaurants: My Old Dutch. So I rounded off my day out with a pancake lunch.