London · Museums · War and remembrance

Imperial War Museum London

Two huge naval guns point at the sky outside a building that was once a lunatic asylum. Inside is one of the most powerful museums in Britain: free, honest about horror, and slowly learning to tell the stories of the millions of soldiers, carriers and civilians from the empire who were left out of its first displays.

Overview

The Imperial War Museum was founded in 1917, while the First World War was still being fought, to record the effort and sacrifice of Britain and its empire. Today IWM runs five sites, including the Churchill War Rooms, HMS Belfast and the aviation museum at Duxford. The London museum on Lambeth Road is the flagship. It covers conflict from 1914 to the present, with a strong focus on the experience of ordinary people rather than generals and weapons.

Founded: 1917; at Lambeth Road since 1936
Building: the former Bethlem Royal Hospital ("Bedlam")
Entry: free; some events are paid
Opening: daily 10am–6pm, closed 24–26 December
Address: Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ
Nearest stations: Lambeth North (Bakerloo line), Elephant and Castle, Waterloo

From asylum to museum

The building with the great copper dome began life in 1815 as the Bethlem Royal Hospital, the psychiatric hospital whose nickname, "Bedlam", entered the English language. When the hospital moved out to the suburbs, the central block was given to the Imperial War Museum, which opened here in 1936. In front stand two 15-inch guns from the battleships HMS Ramillies and HMS Resolution.

The surrounding park, Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, holds a Tibetan Peace Garden and a memorial to the Soviet dead of the Second World War. It is a quiet place to sit before or after the galleries.

The galleries

First World War Galleries: opened in 2014 for the centenary, with more than 1,300 objects, from trench life to the home front.
Second World War Galleries: opened in October 2021, telling the global story of the war chronologically, including campaigns in Africa and Asia and the people of the empire who fought.
Holocaust Galleries: opened at the same time, linked architecturally to the Second World War galleries. Deeply moving and not recommended for children under 14.
Atrium: aircraft, rockets and vehicles hanging in the light well, including a V-1 flying bomb and a V-2 rocket. For the V-2's German story, see our sister site V2 Rocket and Peenemünde.
Conflicts since 1945: from the Cold War to Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond.

Africa at IWM: where to look

For most of its history, IWM told Britain's wars as wars fought by white British men. That has changed, though not completely. Millions of Africans served as soldiers, carriers and labourers in both world wars, and the museum's own photographic archive holds thousands of images of them, including the Nigeria Regiment in the Cameroons campaign and West African troops in Burma.

In the First World War Galleries: look for the campaigns in Africa and the role of colonial troops.
In the Second World War Galleries: look for East and West African soldiers in Ethiopia and Burma, and for the wider empire's role.
Art and film: in 2018 IWM showed John Akomfrah's multi-screen installation Mimesis: African Soldier, remembering the African soldiers, labourers and carriers of the First World War.
Recent exhibitions: Emergency Exits: The Fight for Independence in Malaya, Kenya and Cyprus (October 2025 to March 2026) looked at the end of empire, including the Kenya Emergency.

Before or after your visit, read our pages on West African soldiers in the First World War, West African soldiers in Burma and Mau Mau and the 2013 settlement. They fill in what the galleries can only sketch.

Notice what the museum's name still says: Imperial. The museum has kept it as part of its history. You may want to ask, as you walk round, whose wars and whose losses each gallery puts at the centre.

Exhibitions

IWM London runs a changing programme of mostly free exhibitions. In autumn and winter 2026–27, Childhood in War (31 July 2026 to 28 February 2027) explores how children have experienced conflict from 1914 to the present day. Check the IWM website for what is on during your visit.

Nearby

Brixton and the Black Cultural Archives: also in Lambeth, a short bus or Tube ride south. See Brixton, Windrush Square and the Black Cultural Archives.
The Memorial Gates, Constitution Hill: the memorial to volunteers from Africa, the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent, across the river near Hyde Park Corner.
The South Bank and Westminster: a 15-minute walk north.

Practical guide

Entry: free. Booking a free timed ticket online can help at busy times.
Opening: daily 10am–6pm, closed 24–26 December.
Time: allow three hours for the main galleries; the Holocaust Galleries alone need at least an hour.
Getting there: Lambeth North (Bakerloo line) is closest, about eight minutes' walk; Elephant and Castle and Waterloo are also nearby. There is no general car park.
Food: café on site; many more options around Elephant and Castle.

Planning a London trip? See our first-time-in-London practical guide and the London hub.

Tours and experiences

Our tour partner offers guided tours of London's history and museums, and tours in Nairobi and Kenya for those who want to follow the story of East Africa's soldiers. Entrance fees are included in the tour price where a tour visits paying sites. Tips are not included but are always welcome.

The African side of the story

Britain Adventures is part of a network of independent sites on Africa and its history. These are the places where the stories on this page continue:

Pan-African: African Independence · Uganda · Egypt · Sierra Leone · All African Radio Stations
Ghana: Ghana-Net · Cape Coast Castle · Elmina Castle · James Fort, Accra · They Made Ghana · War Cemetery Cape Coast
Across Africa: Kenya Web News · Explore Nigeria · Gambia Vibes · Zambia Vibes
European history: V2 Rocket and Peenemünde · Tannenberg Memorial

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