Sir John Soane's Museum

Photo of a stained glass window in the museum Photo of a stained glass window in the museum
Photo by me

Former home of Sir John Soane, a celebrated neo-classical architect. The house has been preserved as it was at the time of his death in 1837 and contains a spectacular collection of antiques, including Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress.

Free - some paid events

www.soane.org

Related Attractions

In a classic example of the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon once I’d visited Sir John Soane’s museum I found he followed me around on my travels throughout London.

Photo of a model of Sir John Soane's Bank of England building.
Photo by me. I do love a scale model.

Bank of England Museum

Located in The City

The Bank of England was one of Soane’s most famous buildings, built in stages between 1788 and 1833.

Most of his building was demolished in the 1920s but the museum has a scale model and a display of architectural drawings relating to it.

You can also see a statue of Soane recessed into one of the walls outside, as if to apologise.

Photo of The Soane Stable Yard at Chelsea Barracks
Photo by me, not one of my best.

Chelsea Pensioners Museum

Located in Chelsea

The Chelsea Pensioners Museum is built into part of the Soane Stable Yard at Chelsea Barracks, built between 1814 and 1817.

Soane apparently regretted demolishing some of Sir Christopher Wren’s original buildings during its construction. It is a nice stable yard, don’t get me wrong, but I am inclined to agree with him - the rest of the barracks are quite something.

Photo of the exterior of the Dulwich Picture Gallery, a classical brick building.
Photo by me. It is quite a nice building.

Dulwich Picture Gallery

Located in Dulwich

Sir John Soane’s musem has a lot to say about the Dulwich Picture Gallery, it seems to be considered to be one of his finest works.

I was a tiny bit underwhelmed when I visited but only because I had some idea the gallery would be bigger than it was, it is relatively modest.

Nevertheless the building is a good example of the tasteful, not-too-fussy classical style that Soane is famous for.

Exhibitions