British Museum

A world-famous museum of human history, art and culture in Bloomsbury, London, founded by Act of Parliament in 1753 and free to enter.

About British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history, art and culture. Its collection runs to millions of objects, with the museum's own history page giving about eight million and covering two million years of human history. It includes Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities, coins and medals, prints and drawings, and collections from cultures around the world. It describes itself as the world's first free, national, public museum. It shares its collections through displays, exhibitions, publications, events and online resources, and sends touring exhibitions and loans across the UK and worldwide.

It was created by an Act of Parliament, approved on 7 June 1753. The core of the collection came from the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane, which Parliament bought and combined with the Cotton, Harley and Royal Libraries. The museum opened in 1759 in Montagu House, and the current Greek Revival building, designed by Sir Robert Smirke, replaced it from 1823. The museum's history page notes that Sloane's collecting was connected to imperial networks and that some of his wealth came from enslaved labour in Jamaica. The page does not give a formal mission statement. Its emphasis is on free access and sharing the collections with everyone.

The museum is on Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury, London. The Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, designed by Foster and Partners, opened in 2000, and the World Conservation and Exhibition Centre opened in 2013. The museum's pages also describe a purpose-built collection research and storage facility near Reading, which Wikipedia says opened in 2024, and other off-site storage in London. The museum says it has more than six million visitors a year. Nicholas Cullinan is named as director and George Osborne as chairman on Wikipedia.

We did not find a staff number or culture statement for the museum, so we cannot describe working life in detail. The pages we read describe curators who acquire objects and research their origins, museum scientists who work with them on the collection, and academic and community partners who collaborate on research in the UK and abroad. The museum also set up an Education Service in 1970, and there is a Friends organisation, founded in 1968, which shows the long tradition of teaching and public engagement.

A national museum needs more than curators. There are conservators and scientists who look after fragile objects, exhibition and graphic designers, learning and events staff, digital and photography teams, visitor services, security, retail, fundraising, finance and human resources. If you like history, art, languages, science or telling stories, this is a place where those interests become jobs. Check the museum's own website for current teams and openings, since we did not read a careers page.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Curators and scientists care for, study and acquire objects from across human history.', 'title': 'Collections and research'}
• {'desc': 'Displays, touring exhibitions, loans, events and education programmes.', 'title': 'Exhibitions and learning'}
• {'desc': 'The World Conservation and Exhibition Centre and a research and storage site near Reading.', 'title': 'Conservation'}

Key facts

• Created by Act of Parliament on 7 June 1753; opened in 1759
• Great Court opened 2000; World Conservation and Exhibition Centre opened 2013
• About eight million objects covering two million years (museum history page); more than six million visitors a year
• Collection research and storage facility near Reading (opened 2024 per Wikipedia)

Website: www.britishmuseum.org