Geffrye Museum

Wednesday 2nd. January 2013

This afternoon I went to the Geffrye Museum in Kingsland Road, getting the Overground from Shepherds Bush to Dalston Kingsland and then walking down Kingsland Road to the Museum.   It doesn't look far on the A-Z, but took quite a while in reality - about half an hour, I think.

The Geffrye Museum is housed in some old almshouses built in 1715 for the Ironmongers.   It is quite large and is arranged around three sides of a large square, although only one side houses the Museum - the other two sides, presumably, are occupied by offices.  

The Museum aims to show changing fashions from the 16th century in living room furniture in London, with rooms furnished to show what a typical living room/parlour looked like at various periods of history - the furniture, the furnishings, the wall coverings, etc.   At the moment, they are concentrating on Christmas, with rooms set up for the family to enjoy Christmas festivities or to entertain guests.  

It only deals with the "middling classes" - those who were not aristocracy, but comfortably off merchants, tradesmen, professionals, etc.    The sort of people who could afford to live quite well and to occupy a whole house themselves.    In the sixteenth and seventeen centuries, the ground floor was usually occupied by the husband's business, with the upper floors used as living accommodation, but as it became the custom for the men to work outside the home, this changed, so that the whole house was used as a residence, with the living room transferring from the first to the ground floor.

There were crowds of people there, in a Museum where all rooms are viewed from a long, narrow corrideor which runs the whole length of the building.   There are plenty of explanations, and in addition boards which give details of individual items of furtniture or furnishings.    In the centre of the building is the chapel, where the residents gathered for worship at 11.00 am and 3.00 pm every Sunday.

There is also a herb garden, although there did not seem to be a great deal to see there at the moment.

The Geffrye Museum is free, although they do have provision for donations.   They also have a small shop, and a small exhibtiion of some modern furniture.   And, of course, a cafe, which seemed to be quite busy.

They are run a lot of projects for children. today, there were quite a number of children with their notes and workbooks, and they often put on special events aimed specifically at children, especially during school holidays.