Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum, one of the largest museums of London, takes pride in standing on the Cromwell Road. Sir Hans Sloane, the Ulster doctor, at a reasonable price, had sold all his antique collections to the government of Britain; hereby starting the inception of the Natural History Museum. In the year 1756, the museum saw its dawn at the Montague House in Bloomsbury with some of his collections such as dried animals, plants and human skeletons. Later, in the late 1850s, the Superintendent of the natural history department of the British Museum, Professor Richard Owen expressed the need for a larger area for the museum to flourish.

Today, the Natural History Museum of London is the home of almost 70 million items belonging to domains like Botany, Palaeontology, Entomology, Zoology and Mineralogy. It is also known world wide for being the center of research with specialized departments of taxonomy, conservation and identification. The chief highlights of the Natural History Museum are the skeletons of dinosaurs and ancient architectural works which are preserved since ages and beautifully displayed for the visitors.

The Natural History Museum has varied sections namely: Waterhouse Building, Geological Museum, The Darwin Center and The David Attenborough Studio. All are noted for exhibiting unique items and collections, belonging to different ages. Apart from its historical importance, the Natural History Museum also has carries out other significant functions, such as running handful of educational, public programmes and organizing events like the Nature Live programme. During the mentioned event visitors get a chance to interact with the noted scientists, watch live programmes and ask any sort of query about the displayed collections.

The sister museum of this, the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum is also gaining considerable importance and recognitions in the recent days. The proximity to the London Underground station and other roadways has helped the Natural History Museum to record a significant rise on the visitors count here.