Your saves are on this device only.
Your browser may clear them at any time. You won't be able to see them on other devices. Create a free account or sign in to keep them safe in the cloud.
We've included every museum in London. Use the filters to find something for you.
Two Georgian houses on Croom's Hill given over entirely to fans, six thousand of them, with an orangery for tea behind.
Hélène Alexander opened the Fan Museum in 1991, the first in the world devoted to the hand fan, in a pair of houses of 1721 on Croom's Hill beside Greenwich Park. The collection has grown past six thousand fans and their makings; the oldest is from the eleventh century, and the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when a fan was the one thing a woman was expected to carry, are the strongest. Because paper and silk fade, most of them are shown in rotation through changing exhibitions, with a permanent room on how a fan is made and the shapes it has taken, including one with an ear trumpet built in and one that hides a repair kit. Behind the houses is an orangery painted with murals, where tea is served, and a small Japanese garden laid out in the shape of a fan. It takes no public money; fan-making classes and a reference library are part of it.
| Monday | Closed |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 11:00 – 17:00 |
| Wednesday | 11:00 – 17:00 |
| Thursday | 11:00 – 17:00 |
| Friday | 11:00 – 17:00 |
| Saturday | 11:00 – 17:00 |
| Sunday | Closed |
Submit a correction for this listing.
Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.