Preservation, protection, research, enlightenment and understanding of the world’s history and cultures are all found in one building in London — the British Museum. Visited for free by millions of people each year, it houses artefacts from all fields of knowledge, from Egyptian mummies to the Sutton Hoo helmet, Roman statues, Mesopotamian tablets and so much more. The British Library and the National History Museum were both created by the British Museum’s need for more space.
It is thanks in large part to Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753), born in County Down, and his insatiable collecting habit, that the British Museum Act of 1753 was passed, since he died leaving his Chelsea manor house full of thousands of botanical and curious items which Parliament decided the public should be able to peruse. Thereby the first national public museum was established.
Since then, objects have been added mainly by purchase, but also by donation, legacies, salvage and archaeological digs. Some items would have been destroyed if not saved and transported back to London, where they could be professionally cared for. With eight million artefacts in its possession, the existence of the Museum must have saved millions of travel miles for students, historians and scientists alike.
(Image: Bill Nicholls at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)
