Has the Bramah Museum of Tea & Coffee, of 40 Southwark Street, closed for good? The website insists that the museum is only closed for 'refurbishment' until early 2009, but To Let signs were quite clearly visible adorning the exterior of the building when Londonist went looking for a decent cuppa and a history lesson on Tuesday afternoon (whilst attempting to avoid being run over by the Prime Minister of New Zealand's Police motorcycle escort).
It was the world's first museum completely devoted to the history of tea and coffee, and covered some 400 years of commercial and social history relating to the two fine beverages.
The diminutive museum appears to have been closed since January, when its founder, Mr Edward Bramah, died at his home in Dorset. No representatives of the museum have so far been contactable for comment.
We are very sad to see it go and hope against hope that the museum will in fact re-open some time next year; or else we must all mourn the unfortunate demise of yet another of London's few entries in Bollocks to Alton Towers.
By Matt Kaufman
