Last Chance to Visit the Natural History Museum

My final chance to visit the Natural History Museum was the day after my convocation. I was supposed to meet a friend from Swansea there but he took ill and was unable to join me…

Location

The Museum is located at: Cromwell Rd, Kensington, London SW7 5BD, UK. The museum is fairly close to the South Kensington tube stop.

Cost

The Natural History Museum is free.

Ease of Access

The Natural History Museum is a very popular spot! It is a fun, free, family activity. It is close to the South Kensington tube station and, on rainy days, there is an underground passage from the station to the museum (along with quite a few others, including the V&A).

Because of this popularity and concerns about safety the entrance is a little bit convoluted. I arrived shortly after noon and the line was fast moving but long. You entre through a side gate, walk up the slope to the front door, where you enter a side door. Then you go back and forth back and forth through donation boxes until you enter the main atrium. I bet there are times when there is a bag check in that section but not the day I was there.

There is a pretty good map here that marks things like toilets, lifts etc however the blue-section balcony is currently inaccessible by lift due to construction. There is lots of seating. I quiet liked the Gem/geology gallery. It was quiet and had lots of seating.

The noise environment leaves quiet a lot to be desired. It is, you see, very echo-y. This is because the museum is an older one. It is full of beautiful carvings, mosaics, and arching architecture. As a result there is very little to contain the noise. No carpeting, no tapestries, no walls. I had noise cancelling headphones and music playing and it was still too loud for me.

This is almost the exact opposite of the London Zoo, which has an amazing sound environment – baring the unpredictable animals – thanks to its wide open spaces and plants.

On that day, at that time, The Natural History Museum was not accessible for me. They do hold four times a year ‘Dawnosaurs’ an early morning autism event. Free and aimed at children/families.

Tour Notes

I arrived in the early afternoon and weaved myself through the barriers to take in the Blue whale. This is a fairly new exhibition as the old one (Dippy the Diplodocus dinosaur) is on tour. It is an impressive vista! Throughout the afternoon I found myself staring up at the whale from various angles.

As soon as I stepped inside I turned my headphones on so they would cancel noise but not play music. You can see from this image, there were a lot of people there with me!

As it was about 12:30 when I arrived I headed towards the cafe for a light lunch. The cafe was about the size of a mid-to-large church but it did not have enough seating.

The Collection

The Natural History Museum has a very impressive array of Natural History – As the name might suggest! They have whole galleries dedicated to prehistoric animals, extinct animals, native English ecology and much, much more. I spent, for example, a few minutes observing children interact with a panda display.

The collection is everywhere. I went down a hall before the dinosaur exhibition and found myself in a long and convoluted look into humanity. The first room or two began with reproduction, then we moved into gender/sexuality; followed by the inner workings of the mind including pattern recognition and mental health; there were sections on different types of joins (i.e. ball joints and hinge joints). By the end, I forgot I was in an exhibition about the human body!

I wish I was there for a Dawnosaur event! I bet this museum would be amazing for me if it wasn’t quite so loud and busy. Unfortunately, like so many other disabled people, we don’t have the luxury of timing when accessible options are so few and far between.

The Shop(s)

The Natural History Museum has four, count them, four shops! I went to two: the main museum shop and Dino-Store which is outside the prehistoric exhibition.

Those two carried many of the same dinosaur things with the main shop also carrying a collection not related to dinos. I picked up this little rubix cube that became my stim toy.

These were available in both shops I went to (the odd blobs in the centre are dinosaur pictures). But the main shop had more ‘adult’ objects such as button-up shirts and books where the dino-store has mostly children’s toys.

I also picked up far too many Darwin objects, a biodegradable pen, a cloth bag… and generally too many things. As a result I did not donate my customary five pounds on my way out: I spent enough money in the shop and cafe to cover my donation!

Score out of 10: 6

For those new to Museum Spaces I score each institution out of 10 where ten is beyond compare and one is too awful to describe

The NHM is a great place. I love the exhibitions and the grandiose architecture. Unfortunately those exact features make is harder to access. By this I do not mean that the museum should cover up their arching ceiling or put carpet down in the dinosaur hall but I mean that access needs to be a constant topic and that current practices need to be revisited often.

Natural History is almost always more popular with children than Art Museums. I went to the V&A the same day but had none of the people-related sensory issues I had at the NHM. This is unlikely to change anytime soon and so Natural History museums have to be more active when addressing volume-related accessibility needs.

The Needs Improvement

1. The noise environment. The noise environment of the museum bars not only autistics but also Hard of Hearing (HoH) folks. I can generally deal with crowds if they are not also very loud. For HoH folks excesses of background noise can make it very hard to understand conversations/videos etc that happen in person.
2. The cafe. I did get a few things at the cafe. I cannot remember exactly what other than the small 200-250ml apple juice which, while good, was not worth the £3 I spent on it.

The Brilliant

1. Cost. As stated, the Natural History Museum is free. That is good.
2. The displays. I didn’t take enough photos of the displays to share with you but believe you me they are amazing. The exhibition I talked about earlier, about the human body, included unapologetic depictions of both men and women.
3. The Architecture. Older museums, especially those in the UK are REALLY extra when it comes to architecture. The monkey above is just one of many that climb up and down the arches, the gem gallery has intricate carvings of underwater life.

I would go back to the Natural History Museum in half a heartbeat

I really think I didn’t spend enough time there. My one wish is that I took the time during my school year to visit it instead of the BM. Maybe I’m sentimental. The rubix cube I bought was actually my very first fidget toy.

Become a Patron!