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London's Best Kept Secret?

The Sir John Soane's Museum at Lincoln's Inn in London, UK

Feb 5, 2008 William Wilkes

Whether it's your first visit to London or your tenth The Sir John Soane's Museum is simply unmissable. It is one of the British capital's real hidden gems.

Original art by Turner and Caneletto, a perfectly preserved Sarcophagus from 1370 BC and Mary Queen of Scot's Death mask. These are works that any World-class national museum would love to display. Fortunately, they don't belong to a large museum. They are some of the collection of the tiny Sir John Soane's museum at Lincoln's Inn in Central London.

Soane , a distinguished architect, designed the house, not just to live in, but also as a setting for his astounding collection. After the death of his wife he lived alone, constantly adding to and rearranging his collections. He determined to establish the house as a museum to which 'amateurs and students' should have access and this was secured by an Act of Parliament in 1833. The result can only be described as breathtaking.

Highlights include The Naseby Jewel, allegedly dropped by Charles I at the battle of Naseby during the English Civil War and the Sarcophagus of Seti, barely marked by the passage of more than 3000 years. There are also thousands of pieces of classical architecture and William Hogarth's The Rake's Progess (one of the most important British works of art) Not to mention original paintings, in their original frames (a rarity), by Caneletto and Turner.

However, it is not the pieces themselves, impressive as they are, that make a visit to the Sir John Soane's Museum an unforgettable experience.

It is the arrangement of pieces, done by Soane himself nearly 200 years ago, that takes your breath away. Each room is packed with several hundred paintings, sculptures or bronzes. It is like going into someone's cluttered garage and the garage being full of arrestingly beautiful and priceless artefacts.

Also, Soane's use of natural light was simply genial and is evident in the museum. The house is full of carefully positioned mirrors and windows. On a sunny day the whole museum is illuminated by shooting rays of light. On a grey day the museum is given a mysterious and sombre feel. Both are equally striking.

Soane was the first architect to use mirrors to create an artificial sense of space. The Living Room, then, is the first room in the world to use this now, widespread technique. Soane also designed a room, on the bottom floor of the museum, to specifically evoke sadness.

The museum holds haunting candle-lit tours on the first Tuesday evening of every month. If you are in London such an event would be simply unmissable.

Unlike the vastly overpriced London Dungeon or Madame Toussaud's, the museum, currently curated by Monty Python Actor Michael Palin's son William, is also free of charge. For more information visit http://www.soane.org

The copyright of the article London's Best Kept Secret? in U.K./Ireland Travel is owned by William Wilkes. Permission to republish London's Best Kept Secret? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Front of Museum