#british-empire-collection

#british-empire-collection

We are delighted to unite these incredible archaeological finds from across the North for our latest exhibition. From Roman silver discovered along Hadrian's Wall to 9th-century gold found by a Newcastle University student, this is a rare opportunity to see these scattered treasures displayed alongside one another.

The museum, which displays Walthamstow's colourful cultural history - not to mention Britain's first ever petrol-fuelled car - closed for renovation in December 2023.

A new campaign is aiming to collect 50 objects that sum up Englishness in an effort to move the conversation away from reductive arguments over whether to hang a St George's flag or not. Supported by the Green party politician Caroline Lucas, the musician and campaigner Billy Bragg, and Kojo Koram, a law professor, the A Very English Chat campaign hopes to tackle England's growing social divisions and political polarisation.

The paint effect was camouflage using mimicry and disruptive patterns to confuse enemy pilots. It's one image in an exhibition of around 45 paintings and posters, plus some letters and documents recording life in wartime London.

Britain once ruled over the largest empire in history. For many Britons, it remains a source of pride. Others argue its power was built on a legacy of brutality, colonial conquest and the enslavement of millions. Can Britain reckon with that past and make amends?

After five years in storage, the archive linked to Joseph Merrick - the "Elephant Man" - could finally go back on display as part of plans to reopen the Royal London Hospital Museum in a new larger home. The medical museum, which closed at the start of the pandemic and never reopened, housed some of the most significant artefacts connected to Merrick's final years under the care of Sir Frederick Treves at the Royal London Hospital.

We are honoured to be entrusted with these VCs and GCs from the Lord Ashcroft Medal Collection. These medals, and the individual acts of extraordinary bravery and valour they represent, form a powerful part of the Army's story.

Early on the morning of May 29, 1660, flanked by twenty thousand armed men, King Charles II arrived in London to retake the throne. Bells rang out and ships fired their guns to mark the occasion. It was Charles's thirtieth birthday. England had been without a king for eleven years, after Charles's father was beheaded, on a temporary wooden platform outside Banqueting House, part of the palace of Whitehall. But the country's experiment as a republic was over. King Charles II was welcomed warmly.

During the mid-18th century, while Delhi was rocked by instability, many of its leading poets, painters and craftspeople migrated to Lucknow and Faizabad in search of new patrons. Through this population shift, Lucknow flourished as a courtly capital, its wealth matched by a cosmopolitan atmosphere that attracted Indian elites and European adventurers alike. The ruling Nawabs of Awadh were keen to eclipse Delhi and supported the trades, commissioning many fine jewelled and decorated objects - including, of course, ceremonial swords.

Originally called the Grand Triumphal Arch, it was built in part to commemorate Britain's victories in the Napoleonic Wars and as part of King George IV's remodelling of Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace. Announced in 1825, it would take a year of wrangling to settle on a design for the arch. The chosen architect, Decimus Burton, initially planned a triumphal arch modelled on the Arch of Titus in Rome,

Candidly, most people visiting the British Museum's Hawaii exhibition probably walk in with a lot of stereotypical preconceptions about the island nation. And will walk out with a totally different understanding of it. Understandably, we probably think of it as not much more than the Pacific island nation that's part of the USA, home to Pearl Harbour and the long-running TV show Hawaii 5.0.

Treasures unearthed by hundreds of archaeologists so far during work on the controversial planned HS2 train line have been shown exclusively to the BBC. The 450,000 objects, which are being held in a secret warehouse, include a possible Roman gladiator's tag, a hand axe that may be more than 40,000 years old and 19th Century gold dentures. It is an "unprecedented" amount and array of items, which will yield new insights into Britain's past, says the Centre for British Archaeology.