Image: London Museum Planning Image - Proposed General Market basement gallery concept (c) Secchi Smith
London Museum has been gifted both the single largest archive of archaeological material in its history and £20m in funding, its largest private donation to date.
Both have been gifted to the museum by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The Bloomberg Collection includes more than 14,000 Roman artefacts uncovered by Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) archaeologists during the construction of Bloomberg’s European headquarters in the City of London between 2012 and 2014.
The collection, much of the collection has never been seen before, will now join the archaeological archives at London Museum. It plans to make new objects from the collection available to the public for the first time when it opens in 2026.
Housed within historic Smithfield market buildings, the museum’s new site is expected to welcome over 2 million people each year, of which half will be tourists.
The newly announced £20m in funding is to be used to help transform two of the historic Smithfield market buildings at the museum’s new site.
Sharon Ament, Director, London Museum, said: “Working together with organisations like Bloomberg, we have the power to make a big difference: not just in preserving the city’s heritage but in creating amazing spaces and new opportunities for the Londoners of today.”
Michael R. Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies, said he considers London his “second home”, adding “I’m honored that our company will be able to help bring these stories to life while strengthening the City’s future.”
