London Museum opens free at Smithfield on 28 November
London Museum will open its new permanent galleries at the restored General Market in Smithfield on Saturday, 28 November 2026. Entry to the permanent galleries will be free, and the museum is intended for Londoners, families and visitors interested in the capital’s history and contemporary culture.
The opening returns the Victorian market building to public use after more than three decades. It also brings together objects spanning thousands of years, from Roman writing tablets to artefacts associated with protest, fashion, music and the London 2012 Games.
Three spaces will lead visitors through London
The museum begins with Real Time, a covered former street reached from Heritage Fund Street. This entrance space will use data to capture a picture of London in the present day.
Visitors can then enter Our Time in the Linbury Hall, a central gathering and events space beneath the market’s restored dome. Its 13 large installations will include the Lord Mayor’s Coach and Syd’s Coffee Stall, alongside signs from the India Club, Topshop and the Galtymore Dance Club.
Below ground, Past Time will follow London’s development from its earliest prehistoric inhabitants and Roman origins through the Great Fire, the Blitz and the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The galleries stand at Roman street level and include a six-metre window through which visitors will be able to watch Thameslink trains passing beside the displays.
The Whitechapel Fatberg and Cheapside Hoard return
Among the confirmed exhibits are a section of the Whitechapel Fatberg, Banksy’s Piranhas artwork and the Selfridges lift. The Goldsmiths’ Gallery will present the fullest assembled display of the Cheapside Hoard, a major collection of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewellery.
Roman writing tablets from The Bloomberg Collection will preserve some of the city’s earliest surviving voices. That collection contains more than 14,000 Roman artefacts and forms part of the museum’s wider seven-million-object holding.
Other displays will include Emmeline Pankhurst’s hunger strike medal, Anna Pavlova’s Dying Swan costume and the vest believed to have been worn by Charles I at his execution. The vest is scheduled to remain on display for six months. A smashed Fender Precision Bass belonging to The Clash’s Paul Simonon, Tom Daley’s 2012 diving trunks and Queen Victoria’s mourning dress are also confirmed.
Food, music and family events will animate the market
Our Time is designed to function beyond the permanent displays, with a restaurant, shop and show space around its perimeter. Tuesday Tea Club will offer free hot drinks from Syd’s Coffee Stall from November 2026, while Shared Late Nights will bring curated DJ sets to the museum every Friday and Saturday.
The first Guest Editor programme, London Tastes, will run from November 2026 to August 2027. Co-curated by food writer Ruby Tandoh and Vittles founder Jonathan Nunn, it will explore London’s food culture through subjects including Covent Garden market, Brick Lane, pie-and-mash shops, chicken shops and food producers across the city.
Free Sunday performances for schools and families will begin in November, using sensory storytelling to explore subjects such as Roman London and the Great Fire. Weekly Playdates developed with Punchdrunk Enrichment will follow in January 2027 and are recommended for children aged seven and over.
What visitors can plan now
The confirmed opening date is 28 November 2026, at London Museum in the General Market, Smithfield, in the City of London. The permanent galleries will be free.
London Museum’s announcement does not provide an opening time, a booking process, detailed transport instructions or accessibility information. Visitors planning for opening day will therefore need to wait for those practical arrangements to be published. The neighbouring Poultry Market is due to open in 2028, adding two temporary exhibition spaces, a learning centre and a collections store.
Source: London Museum Press Releases
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The opening date, location, free permanent-gallery access and confirmed exhibits were checked against London Museum’s published announcement.
- Confirmed the General Market galleries are scheduled to open on 28 November 2026.
- Confirmed that entry to the permanent galleries will be free.
- Checked the named exhibits and the announced London Tastes programme.
- Kept the unannounced opening time, booking, transport and accessibility arrangements clear...
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- 2026-08-10 19:20
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