Museum of London. Image: Stanton Williams/Asif Khan Studios

The Museum of London will reopen in its new site next year

Photo: Stanton Williams/Asif Khan Studios

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Museum of London receives £20m donation from US organisation

The gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies comes alongside more than 14,000 Roman artefacts that will be put on public display next year.

Patrick Jowett
3 min read

The Museum of London has been gifted £20m and more than 14,000 Roman artefacts from US-based charitable organisation Bloomberg Philanthropies.

The gifts represent the largest private donation and largest archive of archaeological material given to the museum to date.

The £20m contribution will go towards transforming two market buildings in London’s Smithfield district into exhibition spaces for the museum, as well as expanding access to the museum’s digital collection and further research and archaeological work.

The donated Roman artefacts, discovered in London during the construction of Bloomberg’s European headquarters between 2012 and 2014, will be on display when the museum’s new permanent galleries in Smithfield’s Victorian General Market open next year.

While some of the artefacts have been available to view at the London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE museum since 2017, much of the collection has never been available for the public to view.

The London Museum’s director, Sharon Ament, called the gift “momentous”, adding that it “ties the past to the future and will be a lasting legacy for London”. 

“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,” Ament added.

‘Dynamic new home’

Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies, said he was honoured the company is able to help bring the stories of the artefacts to life.

“Investments in arts and culture bring important benefits, from driving economic growth and job creation, to sparking creativity and innovation, to fostering tolerance and civic pride,” Bloomberg added. 

“The new London Museum represents one of the most ambitious cultural projects globally and it will create a dynamic new home where London’s rich history of stories will inspire future generations.”

Bloomberg’s donation builds on a longer-term collaboration with the London Museum, the museum having first received support from Bloomberg through the company’s Digital Accelerator Programme for Arts and Culture in 2023.

The overall budget for the new London Museum, which is relocating from its former home at London Wall, currently stands at £437m.

As well as the opening of new permanent galleries next year, temporary exhibitions, collection stores and a learning centre are due to open in 2028, while London Museum Docklands remains open.