38. THE LONDON MUSEUM.
The London Museum is most conveniently reached by taxi, for no omnibuses pass close to it, and the nearest stations are Dover Street and Down Street, on the Piccadilly Tube, which lie respectively over + mile to the north and + mile to the north-west, and St. James's Park, on the District Railway, which is + mile to the south-east. From Piccadilly (Ritz Hotel) it is pleasantly reached on foot via the Queen's Walk.
ADMISSION. The Museum is open on Friday and Sunday from 2 to 6 (November-March 2-4) and on all other days from 10 to 6 (10-4). Admission on Tuesday 1/, Wednesday and Thursday 6d., other days free. GUIDES (3d. each) to the Prehistoric, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Mediï¾µval Rooms. 'The London Museum,' by F. J. Harvey Darton (London, 1914; 5/), and 'The Story of Stafford House,' by A. I. Dasent (1921), may be found useful by interested visitors.
The 'London Museum, an interesting and varied collection illustrating the history, the social and domestic life, and the manners of London, on the lines of the Musee Carnavalet of Paris, occupies a dignified mansion with a stately portico situated in Stable Yard, a little to the west of St. James's Palace. The house, now called LANCASTER HOUSE, but long known as Stafford House, was built about 1825 by Benjamin Wyatt on a site once partly occupied by Godolphin House, a residence of Charles James Fox. The top story was added much later by Sir Charles Barry, who designed the magnificent Grand Staircase and the interior decorations.
The house was originally built for the Duke of York who is commemorated by the York Column, with money said to have been advanced by the Marquis of Stafford, afterwards first Duke of Sutherland. The Duke of York died before its completion, and in 1841 the Crown-lease was sold to the second Duke of Sutherland. For nearly seventy years this mansion, under the name of Stafford House, enjoyed the reputation of being the most sumptuous private residence in London. In 1912 it was purchased by Sir William Lever (Lord Leverhulme; died 1925), who generously presented it to the nation, and the name was then changed to Lancaster House, in honour of the King's title of Duke of Lancaster and to commemorate the generosity of a Lancashire man. The London Museum originated in the Hilton Price Collection of London antiquities, purchased by the trustees in 1911, and has been supplemented by purchases, gifts, bequests, and loans. Housed at first in Kensington Palace, the collections were transferred to Lancaster House, taken over by Government in 1913, and opened to the public in 1914. The keeper is Dr. R. E. M. Wheeler.
