At the London Canal Museum you can see inside a narrowboat cabin, learn about the history of London’s canals, about the cargoes carried, the people who lived and worked on the waterways, and the horses that pulled their boats. Peer down into the unique heritage of a huge Victorian ice well used to store ice imported from Norway and brought by ship and canal boat to be stored.
The London Canal Museum is housed in a former ice warehouse built in about 1862-3 for Carlo Gatti, the famous ice cream maker, and features the history of the ice trade and ice cream as well as the canals.
This is the only London museum of inland waterways and is situated at King’s Cross, an accessible central London location.
Most visitors take between one and two hours to visit.
The exhibitions cover the following themes:
* Background to canals in England
* Life on the canals
* Canal painting and decorative pottery
* Lifting and handling
* Carlo Gatti, the Ice Trade, and Ice Cream
* Horse Power
* Water and Locks
* The Regent’s Canal (including archive film)
* Canal Craft
* London Waterways Map
Opening Days
Tuesday to Sunday, and also on bank holiday Mondays
Closed on other Mondays.
Opening Times
1000 to 163o
Open late until 1930 on the first Thursday of each month
Last admission is 45 minutes before closing
Admission charges
Adult – Β£3.00
Child – Β£1.50
Senior – Β£2.00
Student – Β£2.00
Unwaged – Β£2.00
Children are those aged 5-15 inclusive. Children aged 4 and younger are free. Children under 14 years must be accompanied by an adult.
Getting there
By tube
King’s Cross (Piccadilly, Circle, Hammersmith and City, Northern (City branch), Victoria and Metropolitan)
By bus
10, 17, 30, 45, 46, 63, 73, 91, 205, 214, 259, 390, 476
Address
London Canal Museum
12-13 New Wharf Road (off Wharfedale Road)
N19RT
020 7405 2127
Website
www.canalmuseum.org.uk