★★★★★ 5.0
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Victoria and Albert Museum
The year is 1899, and Queen Victoria steps forward to lay a foundation stone on Cromwell Road... but she's secretly disappointed because she REALLY wanted to name this place the "Albert Museum" instead! This massive red-brick palace stretching 230 meters - that's longer than two football fields - was built from Great Exhibition profits in an area so unfashionable they had to rename it from "Brompton" to "South Kensington" just to sound fancy! The first director called it "a refuge for destitute collections," but today you're about to enter the world's largest museum of art and design, where even the entrance hall ceiling will make you gasp. This turned out to be Victoria's very last public appearance, making every step you take here part of royal history!
Did You Know?
- The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) began as the 'Museum of Manufactures' in 1852, inspired by the Great Exhibition of 1851, and was the first museum in the world dedicated to educating designers, manufacturers, and the public in art and design—a radical concept at the time aimed at boosting British industry and taste.
- During World War II, parts of the V&A were transformed into an RAF canteen and even served as a school for children evacuated from Gibraltar, while much of its priceless collection was hidden away in secret locations to protect it from bombing.
- The museum pioneered late-night openings in 1858, using gas lighting so working-class visitors could attend after hours—a groundbreaking move for public access to culture, championed by its first director, Henry Cole, who declared the museum should be a 'schoolroom for everyone'.