Anniversary Exhibition

A display of photographs and architectural drawings to mark the 140th anniversary of the museum, which was officially opened by the Prince of Wales on June 24 1872 as a museum of art and science. The framework of the museum building was originally sited in west London. Dismantled section by section, it was brought across the city by teams of horses and carts. It is one of the earliest surviving examples of a pre-fabricated iron-frame building, a descendent of the Crystal Palace. In Bethnal Green the original corrugated iron cladding was replaced with red brick, and friezes designed by Frank Moody illustrating science, art and agriculture were added to the north and south façades. On opening, paintings from the Wallace Collection were shown in the top gallery and a visit by Vincent van Gogh was documented. The transition to the Museum of Childhood began during the 1920s and was officially acknowledged in a change of name in 1974.