Museum of the Month: The Cuming Museum

M@
By M@ Last edited 176 months ago
Museum of the Month: The Cuming Museum

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Yes, yes, it's got a vaguely smutty name. Once you got over the Carry-On smirks, the Cuming Museum reveals itself as one of the best local museums in London. Based on Walworth Road, the Museum tells the story of the Cuming family, Victorian versions of Sir John Soane, who collected anything they could get their hands on. And we mean anything. Queen Anne's slippers, Hawaiian artifacts from Captain Cook's voyages, Bonnie Prince Charlie's hair, protective amulets, mummified wheat from ancient Egypt, a Zulu fly-wisk and a piece of cake from Edward VII's wedding.

After an artifactual tour of the globe courtesy of the Cuming's ensemble of oddities, the museum goes hyper-local, offering a short history of Southwark. If this is your borough of choice, now's a good time to visit, as a third room houses a temporary display of old photos and paintings of Peckham, Camberwell, Dulwich, Rotherhithe and all the other bits that make up this most diverse of regions. Read our review here.

Over the next couple of weeks, we'll feature a few of the more unusual items from the collection, which is our Museum of the Month for July.

The Cuming Museum can be found at 151 Walworth Road. It's open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10am to 5pm. Admission is free.

Last Updated 14 July 2009