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Press releases
- Arsenal’s captain donates Black Lives Matter shirt to the Museum of London
- Public statement October 2020
- Dub London: Bassline of a City opening 2 October at the Museum of London
- New major exhibition Havering Hoard: A Bronze Age Mystery opens 11 September at the Museum of London Docklands
- Museum of London releases first ever recorded soundscapes of London alongside new recordings of London in lockdown as part of Collecting COVID project
- Museum of London sites to reopen 6 August with four-week extension of The Clash: London Calling display
- The Museum of London collects shared experiences of Ramadan in lockdown as part of Collecting COVID project
- Unheard oral histories are released by the Museum of London to mark Windrush Day
- Public statement
- Robert Milligan statue statement
- Collecting Covid: the Museum of London seeks to mark unprecedented pandemic for the future
- Millicent Fawcett’s ‘Steadfastness and Courage’ brooch to go on permanent display for the first time
- King Charles I’s execution vest to go on display in new major exhibition
- Museum of London submits plans to create a new world-class cultural destination in West Smithfield
- Museum of London to celebrate Dub Reggae and its influence on the capital
- East End bastion Syd’s coffee stall to be donated to the Museum of London
- Free exhibit celebrating the making of The Clash’s ground-breaking album ‘London Calling’ now open
- The largest ever Bronze Age hoard in London has been discovered
- Museum of London acquires extremely rare plate that belonged to Samuel Pepys
- The story of the Krios of Sierra Leone to be told in the Museum of London Docklands’ latest display
- Museum of London to host The Clash: London Calling exclusive free exhibit of over 100 personal items
- Designs for Museum of London’s new West Smithfield home revealed
- Smithfield Street Party
- Museum of London hopes to acquire both the Trump Baby Blimp and the Sadiq Khan Blimp as part of their permanent collection
- Secret Rivers
- Beasts of London
- Recently acquired panorama goes on display for the first time at the Museum of London
- Earliest skull ever mudlarked from the Thames to go on display at the Museum of London
- Museum of London appoints leading names to Board of Governors
- “Reputational whitewashing” investigated in latest display at the Museum of London Docklands.
- Museum of London acquires beautiful panorama of lost Houses of Parliament
- Bengali arts and culture on show at the Museum of London Docklands family festival.
- Young Londoners to take over Museum of London this March
- Treasured children’s author Jacqueline Wilson’s latest book Wave Me Goodbye inspires family day at the Museum of London Docklands
- Adventures in Peter Pan’s Neverland at Museum of London Docklands
- Museum of London Docklands celebrates Chinese New Year this February half term
- Museum of London Docklands to showcase rare Roman sarcophagus in first public display
- Taste not waste: Be inspired by unique recipes using your leftover food for a more sustainable future London
- Whitechapel’s famous monster fatberg is coming to the Museum of London
- An Idea for a Future London open call winner announced
- London Visions: Hypothetical scenarios of a future London
- Smithfield street party: Museum of London celebrates 150 years of Smithfield markets
- Technology replacing jobs won’t halt our working spirit
- Learn how to code like a pro and celebrate digital technology at the Museum of London’s free family festival
- Votes for Women programme
- All aboard for the Maritime music festival
- New display reveals complex history of British Army’s West India Regiments
- Paddington returns to Museum of London
- Bonus Levels: Artist Lawrence Lek invites viewers to re-imagine future London
- The Museum of London hopes to acquire Whitechapel 'fatberg'
- The City is Ours: A Tale of New Cities
- Tracking London’s most talked about topics and emojis
- London Nights: Museum of London unveils the city at night in major photography exhibition
- Statement on 20 May 2017
- Digital visions of London, faces of the capital photographed and portrait painting in exchange for a favour
- What does the future hold for London and cities around the world?
- Museum of London releases third and final Great Fire 1666 Minecraft map
- Museum of London acquires 100 menswear items worn by townscape consultant Francis Golding
- 8,000 years of human history on display at the Museum of London Docklands
- Museum of London displays recently acquired Sutherland drawings in new exhibition of Blitz artwork
- Mayor of London and City of London Corporation pledge support for new Museum of London at West Smithfield
- City Now City Future: a conversation about the past, present and future of our cities
- Rare tools give insight into working lives of Roman Londoners at the Museum of London
- New display at the Museum of London traces the capital’s obsession with ice skating
- Historic vessels Knocker White and Varlet set sail to new home at Trinity Buoy Wharf
- Missing Bake Off? Take your taste buds back in time with 17th century gingerbread
- Rare Victoria Cross with mysterious story to go on display at the Museum of London
- Museum of London x Craft Central pop-up opens for Christmas 2016
- Museum of London boosts Great Fire collections with mysterious manuscript
- After dark at The Night Museum
- New display about the life of ‘The Royal African’ and the slave trade
- Joe Corré, Jordan and Richard Boon to appear in an uncensored, live Punk.London debate
- People of Punk bring the year of celebration to an end
- Tunnel: the archaeology of Crossrail
- New archaeological exhibition opens at the Museum of London
- New research to shed fresh light on the impact of industrialisation
- Our statement on Fabric
- New Great Fire website to mark 350th anniversary
- Museum of London sets the City on fire with second Great Fire 1666 Minecraft map
- Skeletons: Our Buried Bones
- Behind the Scenes of the Museum of London
- Met Police’s Crime Museum revealed at Museum of London
- Stanton Williams and Asif Khan to design new Museum of London at West Smithfield
- Rare George Cross medal goes on display at the Museum of London Docklands
- Museum of London opens most theatrical exhibition ever to mark 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London
- Museum of London uses Minecraft to recreate the Great Fire of 1666
- Sir Edward Lister joins Museum of London Board of Governors
- 17th century fire engine restored for Great Fire exhibition
- Design concepts for new museum at West Smithfield revealed
- Hello London, Hello Barbados
- Stomping Grounds: Dick Scott-Stewart photographs on display
- Legendary London Stone installed at the Museum of London
- West Smithfield Design Competition shortlist announced
- Museum of London launches new website to increase visits and ticket sales
- Photography of Londoners and their pastimes on show at Museum of London
- Never-before-seen archaeological artefacts from forthcoming exhibition, Fire! Fire! unveiled
- Another record-breaking year for the Museum of London
- Looking for Londoners and Show Space
- West Smithfield International Design Competition launched
- Museum of London bolsters its art collections
- Five Museum of London apprentices appointed
- Malcolm Reading Consultants appointed to run West Smithfield International Design Competition
- Major new gallery at Museum of London Docklands explores history of the world's largest docks
Historic vessels Knocker White and Varlet set sail to new home at Trinity Buoy Wharf
14 November 2016
Two historic vessels, acquired by the Museum of London Docklands in the 1980s, are moving to a new home under new ownership.
The vessels, Knocker White and Varlet, will be relocating to Trinity Buoy Wharf where they will be repaired and restored, put on public display and could even be part of future river festivals and apprenticeship schemes. Their move comes as part of the museum’s rationalisation of its floating vessel collection; two have been transferred in recent years (one to a local group and one to the National Trust) and Knocker White and Varlet are the last ones to be rehomed.
Following guidelines set out by the Museums Association and National Historic Ships UK, a new owner was found and their future secured. Both vessels will be moved overnight (on Monday 14 November) in a complex operation with each move potentially taking up to seven hours depending on the tides.
Sharon Ament, Director of the Museum of London, who will be present during the move to say farewell, said:
“We’re really pleased these two historic vessels, which have been part of our collection for 30 years, have found a great and appropriate new home. The team at Trinity Buoy Wharf are extremely well placed to care for and make the most of Varlet and Knocker White as part of their vibrant creative programme. I am looking forward to seeing them in their new environment contributing to the story of London’s Port in a more powerful way.”
Eric Reynolds, Founding Director of Urban Space Management, said:
“We are very pleased to be able to add to the preservation of London’s maritime heritage. At Trinity Buoy Wharf we have Faradays experimental lighthouse, a fine lightship, and an example of the type of Thames lighter that would have been rowed on the tide as far up river as Brentford. The river Thames was the commercial mainspring of London until the docks closed in the early 1970s and we are proud to be able to be able to show some of the traditional craft that kept goods moving on this great river”.
Vessel details:
Knocker White (due to be moved on14 November) was built for Harrisions (London) Lighterage Ltd in 1924 by T.Van Duijvendijk at Scheepswerk Lekkerkek, Netherlands. She was launched on 23rd May 1924 and named Carnrock. In 1962 she was sold to W E White and Sons and was renamed Knocker White. She was bought by the Museum of London circa 1985.
Varlet (due to be moved on 14th as above) is a Jubilee Class Tug built in 1937 by James Pollock and Co. Ltd, Faversham for the London Lighterage Company Vokins and Co. She worked in the West India and Royal Docks and on the River Lea. She remained in service until the early 1980s. Varlet was secured for preservation by the Museum of London on 5th August 1986.
-ENDS-
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About The Museum of London Docklands
The Museum of London Docklands is located at West India Quay in east London. Opened in 2003, this grade one listed converted Georgian sugar warehouse specifically tells the story of the port, river and city – focusing on trade, migration and commerce in London.
The museums are open daily 10am – 6pm and are FREE to all, and you can explore the Museum of London with collections online – home to 90,000 objects with more being added. www.museumoflondon.org.uk
About Trinity Buoy Wharf
Trinity Buoy Wharf is a vibrant creative centre as well as a historic site attracting tens of thousands of visitors a year. http://www.urbanspace.com/projects/trinity-buoy-wharf