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.
London's learned societies and their public doors: the lecture theatres, libraries, collections and exhibitions of the institutions that have been arguing about the world since the seventeenth century, most of them free to walk into. What is on is listed under each society, and in What's On.
Talks and exhibitions this week are in What's On
An Adam house off the Strand with a lecture room painted end to end, free exhibitions and a talks programme open to anyone.
Public talksExhibitionsLibrary you can useFree to enterWorth it for the building
The Society was founded in 1754 to encourage arts, manufactures and commerce, and it has been arguing about how to improve things ever since - the talks programme runs through the year and is the reason most people come. Speakers are booked for what they think rather than what they are selling.
The building is the other reason. The Great Room was designed by the Adam brothers in 1774 as the place where members debated and prizes were given, and James Barry spent twenty-three years covering its walls with six paintings called The Progress of Human Knowledge and Culture - a whole theory of civilisation, painted round a room, by a man who fell out with almost everyone. Under the house are the Vaults, four interconnecting brick chambers of the 1770s left as they were built.
Exhibitions run in the house through the year and cost nothing to see, generally work by artists at the start of things rather than names. There is a coffee house and a library, and the door is open to anyone on a weekday.
| Monday | 08:00 – 20:00 |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 08:00 – 20:00 |
| Wednesday | 08:00 – 20:00 |
| Thursday | 08:00 – 20:00 |
| Friday | 08:00 – 20:00 |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | Closed |
Hours from the page that lists them, checked 14 September 2026.
Closed on public holidays and between Christmas and New Year. Visitors sign in at the door.
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.