Nestled round the back of Elephant & Castle in a former workhouse that was once home to a young Charlie Chaplin and his family, Lambeth’s Cinema Museum is an Aladdin’s cave of movie memorabilia, artefacts and film-making equipment.
Founded in 1984 by cinephiles and enthusiastic collectors Martin Humphries and Ronald Grant, its vast and idiosyncratic collections feature everything from art deco cinema seats and 1940s ushers’ uniforms to around 75,000 posters, thousands of books, an estimated one million plus photos and 17 million feet of film.
The museum faced potential closure in 2018 when developers purchased its historic building, with over 60,000 fans signing a petition to save it, and high profile industry names including Simon Callow, Ken Loach and Terry Gilliam swooping in to offer support. Having struck a deal to purchase the building from developers, the museum’s immediate future is secure, with fundraising efforts to raise the £1 million required for the sale ongoing.