Where creativity meets connection
Hunterian Museum
Royal College of Surgeons of England, 38–43 Lincolns Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PE
Named after the 18th century surgeon and anatomist John Hunter, the Royal College of Surgeons of England’s headquarters hosts a wonderful exploration of human physiology. Recently undergoing a £4.6 million redevelopment, the museum now displays over 2,000 anatomical preparations from Hunter’s original collection, alongside instruments, equipment, models, paintings and archive material. These all trace the history of surgery, from ancient times to the latest robot-assisted operations. The Museum also includes England’s largest public display of human anatomy.
The Royal College of Surgeons of England holds over 70,000 items across collections of anatomical and pathological specimens (human and other animals), models, instruments, paintings and sculptures, covering the art and science of surgery from the 17th century to the present day.
HEVER CASTLE
Hever Road, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 7NG
History fans can visit the childhood home of Anne Boleyn between Wed 12 Feb and Sun 2 Nov 2025. Experience over 600 years of history at the romantic double-moated 14th century castle once the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I.
Hever Castle’s panelled rooms house fine furniture, tapestries, antiques and collections of Tudor portraits in the permanent exhibition in the Long Gallery, which depicts the saga from the Wars of the Roses to the Reformation through its art collection. Two prayer books which belonged to Anne Boleyn and bear her inscriptions and signature are also on display to visitors in the Castle.
Discover the opulence of the Tudor court this year at Hever Castle with a unique display of historically accurate costumes from the acclaimed TV drama of Hilary Mantel’s final novel Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, telling the story of the Tudor Court from Thomas Cromwell’s perspective. The costumes, on loan from Angels, the world’s largest supplier of costumes and accessories for TV, film and theatre, will be on display inside the Castle alongside portraits from the Tudor period allowing visitors to compare to what Anne Boleyn and her family might have worn in real life.
Delve into the Tudor history depicted in the series and discover clues into the social customs of courtly life by seeing the fashions of the time. Embrace a truly visual and sensory experience exploring the newly opened Boleyn Apartment inside the historic Castle. There’s also a Costumes of Wolf Hall display at Hever until Sun 2 Nov 2025 (Castle ticket required). Discover magnificent award-winning gardens set in 125 acres of glorious grounds. No matter what time of year you visit you are guaranteed a breath-taking display.
Pre-book online and save at: www.hevercastle.co.uk
Dorich House Museum
67 Kingston Vale, Kingston SW15 3RN
The former studio home of the sculptor Dora Gordine and her husband the Hon. Richard Hare, Dorich House was completed in 1936, to Gordine’s design, and is an exceptional example of a modern studio house by a woman artist. Now, in the spirit of Gordine’s exemplary life and career, it opens as a museum and international centre promoting and supporting women’s creative practice.
Spread across three floors. Its principal ground and first floor spaces offer a plaster studio, a modelling studio and a gallery space, which were all originally devoted to the production and display of Gordine’s work. Above them, a more modest top floor apartment served the couple’s domestic needs. The Museum holds the world’s largest collection of Gordine’s work. Alongside work completed at Dorich House from the mid-1930s are examples of her early paintings, drawings and sculptures, produced in Paris and Asia from the late 1920s. Also on permanent display is an important collection of Russian art and artefacts, acquired by Gordine and Hare during their marriage. Visitors can enjoy spectacular views from the house’s roof terrace, which overlooks Richmond Park.
Hove Museum of Creativity
19 New Church Road, Hove BN3 4AB
While it occasionally gets overlooked in favour of its bigger cousins on the other side of the city, Hove’s Museum is one of the most inspiring you can find in the county. Crammed with a Wizard’s Attic and galleries offering some extraordinary exhibits, you might be fooled into forgetting this Victorian building was once a family home. Originally built in the 1870s as the home of John Olliver Vallance, before being used to entertain wounded soldiers during World War I and then to house German prisoners. During the 20s, the empty house was sold to Hove Council and reopened as a museum.
Now it holds collections designed to fire up imaginations, with groundbreaking exhibitions, workshops and special activities running alongside the permanent treasures. Running until Mo 21 April is The Mechanical Circus – a selection of ten circus-themed automata. The push of a button brings these performers to life in a fusion of whimsical art and robotic engineering. An exclusive film reveals the gizmos, gadgets and tricks behind the construction of these mechanised marvels.
https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/hove-museum-of-creativity/
Amberley Museum
New Barn Road, Amberley BN18 9LT
While Sussex now offers mostly agricultural land and small communities, few realise it was once an industrial powerhouse. The South Downs provided an abundance of raw materials. Pits, mines and quarries accessed a plentiful supply of valuable minerals like fuller’s earth, sand, gravel, and clay - all vital to the construction industry. Now, in a former chalk pit, Amberley Museum is preserving a snapshot of the county’s history.
It was opened in the late 70s, by a group of architects, surveyors, planners and museum professionals who recognised the need for a centre in the south-east where industrial and social history could be conserved in an active working environment. Amberly chalk Pit was an ideal location, as it already presented a selection of Victorian buildings, kilns from various periods and a settlement created by its industrial and transport facilities, a rarity in the south.
Now these artic facts have been joined by an extensive communications collection, along with the most complete operational interwar bus fleet to be preserved in the UK from the local Southdown company – including complete garages and equipment. There’s also a selection of industrial railway equipment, including working narrow-gauge trains, engine sheds and signal boxes. While so much of our past is swept away in the name of progress, this is a incredibly presented selection of vintage technology.
Horniman Collection
100 London Road, Forest Hill SE23 3PQ
First opened as the Surrey House Museum in 1890, this South London landmark is a true treasure trove of marvels. It’s named after Frederick Horniman, who inherited and ran his father’s business, Horniman’s Tea, and was elected as an MP for the Liberal Party in 1895 – where he campaigned for the creation of the Welfare State and raising living standards across all sectors of society. The museum was built to “bring the world to Forest Hill”, providing an opportunity for everyone to see and learn about global craftsmanship and creativity.
Displays include ancient pottery, European armour, an extensive assemblage of musical instrument and items of natural history. Horniman gave his museum, stunning gardens and extensive collections to the people in perpetuity in 1901. The total collection consists of over 350,000 objects, many of which have been lovingly presented in a unique environment.
Weald & Downland Living Museum
Town Lane, Singleton PO18 0EU
This independent outdoor museum has a simple ethos, to rescue and conserve historic buildings. In addition, it seeks to research and recreate the daily lives of the people who would have originally lived inside and around their collection. Through preserving traditional trades and crafts, and sharing the untold stories of rural life, this wonderful Sussex institution offers an authentic glimpse into the history of South East England.
The beautiful suite now houses over 50 historic buildings dating from 950AD to the 19th century, re-erected from their original sites, together with period gardens, traditional farm animals and a mill pond. These buildings range from a reconstruction of a Saxon hall house to working buildings of the late 19th century. They are complemented by a collection, located in the Downland Gridshell Building, of building fixtures and fittings such as hinges, latches and doors, as well as larger structural elements and materials used in building construction and conservation.
The Museum also holds excellent collections relating to rural life, including agriculture, domestic life, trades and industries, and transport. A library of printed books, maps and other published materials relevant to the collections is held by the Museum for study purposes. As well as bringing to life the homes, farmsteads and rural industries represented by its collections and exhibits, other themes are strongly represented at the Museum, including landscape, agriculture, animal husbandry, science and sustainability. Interpretation is achieved mainly through people, together with modest panel displays and publications.
Fishbourne Rokan Palace
Roman Way, Chichester PO19 3QR
The largest Roman residential complex to be discovered in Britain, Fishbourne Roman Palace was even bigger than Buckingham Palace. Built in 75 AD on the site of a Roman supply compound, it was a vast and impressive development that appeared just 30 years after the Roman conquest of Britain.
Expanded over 200 years, to eventually including around 100 rooms, it became home to an astonishing array of intricate mosaics. Evidence suggests this complex was destroyed by fire in the late 3rd century. Left beyond repair, abandoned; incredibly lost and forgotten until it’s unearthing in the 1960s.
Now the site is run by the charity Sussex Past and open to tourists and educational groups. Visitors can view audio-visual displays, artefacts, and reconstructions of the site as well as viewing the remains of the North Wing, which are protected under a covered enclosure. There remain many extremely well-preserved mosaics in Fishbourne Roman Palace, including the famous Cupid On A Dolphin Mosaic and a Medusa mosaic, similar to those found at Brading Roman Villa and Bignor Roman Villa. The site also contains a reconstructed Roman garden, designed and planted according to archaeological and historical evidence, as well as a museum examining Roman horticultural techniques.
www.sussexpast.co.uk/attraction/fishbourne-roman-palace
Hampton Court Palace
East Molesey Surrey KT8 9AU
Providing a glimpse into the public dramas and private lives of Henry VIII, his wives, their children a Tudor court, Hampton Court Palace is one of Britian’s wonders. Alongside the monarch’s incredible Great Hall, there’s Tudor kitchens and a range of priceless artworks in this spectacular baroque building.
There’s also 60 acres of magnificent gardens to explore, along with the popular Magic Garden adventure playground.
The palace’s Wolsey Rooms were originally built for Thomas Wolsey, Henry VIII's chief minister, when he owned Hampton Court in the 1520s. The provide an unmissable exploration through both his daily life and the early years of Henry VIII’s reign. Throughout this site, you can trace the remarkable story of an ambitious royal dynasty, all told through rare and important historical objects, as well as interactive displays. The Tudor age was a time of dramatic change, the English people had to adapt to survive, while European exploration and exploitation of the wider world began to forge the modern world.
www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace
Mark O'Donnell
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