Located on the Isle of Dogs, the Museum of London Docklands (formerly Museum in Docklands) tells the history of the River Thames. Opened in 2003 in a group of grade I listed Georgian sugar warehouses built in 1802, it is a substantial museum with 12 galleries and a children’s gallery, arranged over two of its floors. There is a large collection of historic artefacts, models and pictures.
The Museum of London Docklands includes a lecture theatre and meeting rooms where talks and events connected with the docks often take place. Apart from the reading room and the Sainsbury Study Centre where the public are welcome to consult the archives, you can also find a restaurant and a shop. Entry to the museum is free.
Visitors are directed through the displays in chronological order. The periods covered range from the first port of London in Roman times to the closure of the central London docks in the 1970s and the subsequent transformation of the area with new commercial and residential developments.
The nucleus of the collection is the museum and archives of the Port of London Authority. These became part of the port and river collections of the Museum of London in 1976, but largely remained in storage until the new museum was opened.
The admission to the museum is free of charge.