One of London’s best hidden, yet perfectly sized museums is to become a bit easier to find as it gets a new entrance.
The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology houses one of the greatest collections of ancient Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology in the world, but is not the sort of museum you would stumble upon, being down a cul-de-sac behind a gate inside the UCL complex near Euston.
It’s also got a small door, and you have to walk up a flight of stairs to get to it — which can be a bit daunting if you’re not sure what to expect upstairs. Which is a pity as it is a quite wonderful space, all the more so for retaining a slightly old-fashioned display, in the sense of lots of things in lots of cases. Perfect if you want to see artifacts instead of interactive computer screens.
As part of a grant from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Wolfson Foundation, the museum is to get a more welcoming and physically accessible space for visitors when they arrive.
The new entrance will provide an introduction to the Petrie collection, and celebrate the life and work of the museum’s founders, Flinders Petrie and Amelia Edwards.
Petrie (1853-1942) is often referred to as the Father of Modern Egyptology; he pioneered new scientific methods that changed the face of archaeology. However, his accomplishments would not have been possible without the support of a trailblazing woman, Amelia Edwards.
The redesign of the museum’s entrance starts later this year.
The Petrie Museum is NOT near Euston but instead situated in the UCL main campus in the heart of Bloomsbury at Malet Place, off Torrington Place.
Torrington Place is on the main East to West route between Grays Inn Road and Tottenham Court Road.
I guess “near” is subjective, as it’s only a few minutes walk from Euston mainline station, and even fewer to Euston Square tube station.
Being objective, I disagree, It is a good 15 to 20 minutes walk to Euston main line. Ten minutes to Euston Square if you have a UCL access pass to short cut across campus. Euston Main line is north of Euston Road and the main UCL campus south of same in Bloomsbury. It’s important the general public are not misled.
Google says 10 minutes from Euston station, and 6 minutes from Euston Square — and Google errs on the side of caution, as I often find it slower than reality.
It would certainly never take 15-20 minutes from Euston station.
“It’s important the public are not misled”. Well honestly old bean, calm yourself. Many visitors to the museum will come to London from the mysterious world beyond the M25 and they’d certainly consider the location to be near Euston. Thanks for this post, I’ve been meaning to visit for a good while.
“Being objective, I disagree” – I think you meant “being anal” ….
Best laugh of the day, guys. We’re bang in the middle as far as we’re concerned: Russell Square, Euston, King’s Cross, Euston Square, Goodge St, Warren St, and only minutes from the big house down the road, the British Museum. Danny, I hope you enjoy discovering the museum. Ian, keep up the great work.
P.S. Try friendsofpetrie.org.uk for the Friends of Petrie Museum lecture list and other events. If you love the museum, you’ll love our events list – we hope.
Visited for the first time last September. It was rather hard to find! We were the typical American tourists wandering with Google Maps on our phones. It is a truly amazing and important collection and everyone should try to visit.
After reading your article we ceased a procrastination of several years standing and visited last Friday (I think the thought it might close for a while scared us into action!). It’s a wonderful place! There was a small exhibition about musical instruments, including 3D prints of instruments found in tombs, which we could play, and modern facsimiles. Delightful staff, fascinating exhibits – I love it just the way it is. Thanks as ever for pointing out another of London’s little treasures, Ian. Your post is brilliant.