People's City: 1850s-1940s
By the 1850s, London was the world’s wealthiest city but success had come at the expense of its people. Population growth created a divided city, with Londoners living in separate worlds of rich and poor.
The social divide is reflected here in the galleries where an old water pump bursting with sanitary challenges and a room wallpapered with Charles Booth’s poverty maps sit alongside symbols of the glamour of London's emerging West End: beautiful theatre outfits, the new mobility of the taxi, and a stunning art deco lift from Selfridges.
The fractured city lived on through a time of rising conflict when workers united to fight for their rights, imprisoned Suffragettes went on hunger strike and communist and fascist groups emerged as the nation moved closer to war.
As you leave behind the dazzling lights of the theatres and restaurants, a dark and immersive war room, with a suspended bomb, captures a blitzed city unsure of its survival.
Don’t miss…
Charles Booth’s Map of Poverty, 1887-9
Follow the colour-coded streets of Charles Booth’s Descriptive Map of London Poverty and explore the divided city with our interactive map.
Victorian Walk
Enjoy a little window shopping along the streets of the Victorian Walk and stop in at the local pub.
Emmeline Pankhurst’s hunger strike medal, 1912
Follow the Suffragette struggle to win Votes for Women and learn how protest and militant action on the streets of London led to the imprisonment of over 1000 women, many of whom went on hunger strike.