His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales dropped in at the future new Museum of London site, situated among historic market buildings in West Smithfield.
Prince Charles was welcomed by Museum of London Director, Sharon Ament; Executive President of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, Marcus Binney; the Lord Mayor of the City of London, William Russell; as well as representatives of the new Museum of London’s award-winning design team including Stanton Williams, Asif Khan and Julian Harrap Architects.
His Royal Highness was given a tour of the construction site in the Victorian General Market designed by Sir Horace Jones, which has lain empty for almost 30 years and shown the recently discovered Lockharts Cocoa Rooms.
On behalf of the @cityoflondon, I was delighted to welcome His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to the future home of the @MuseumofLondon. This will be a real asset for Londoners, showcasing the capital’s vibrant and diverse history as part of @CultureMileLDN. @ClarenceHouse pic.twitter.com/lBBOcmvjp2
— Lord Mayor of London (@citylordmayor) May 11, 2021
He visited what will be the museum’s main show-stopping public space ‘Our Time’, had a roof-top view across the whole of Smithfield and saw how plans are progressing for the largest cultural infrastructure project happening anywhere in Europe.
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Ms Ament said: “It was an honour to show His Royal Highness around the future home of the new Museum of London. The Prince’s commitment and passion for the UK’s built heritage, and preserving it for future generations, is something that we absolutely share and this is nowhere better shown than the historic market buildings in West Smithfield.
“Working with our award-winning design team and with the support of organisations like SAVE we will ensure the buildings are protected and given a long, sustainable future.
“The new Museum of London will be pivotal in the City and London’s cultural recovery post-COVID and today’s visit is a fantastic boost that will only propel us and the project further along.”
We were delighted to show The Prince of Wales around our beautiful future home in West Smithfield today and share our plans to create a show stopping Museum for London in the coming years @ClarenceHouse @SAVEBrit. More info about our future home here: https://t.co/98MWyd7IMl pic.twitter.com/UFACfYNk0W
— Museum of London (@MuseumofLondon) May 11, 2021
Lead image by Secchi Smith
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