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Fronted by two immense guns from Royal Navy battleships, the IWM focuses on British military history since 1914. The central atrium display of objects bearing "witness to war" (everything from a Harrier Jump Jet to a battle-scarred press Land Rover) branches into immersive and sensitive exhibitions on the First and Second World Wars, modern warfare, the Holocaust, and more. The same institution owns the HMS Belfast (South Bank), Cabinet War Rooms (Westminster), and Duxford Air Museum (Cambridgeshire - a day trip from London).
The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. Its headquarters are in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civil and military war effort and sacrifice of the United Kingdom and its Empire during the First World War. The museum's remit has since expanded to include all conflicts in which British or Commonwealth forces have been involved since 1914. As of 2012, the museum aims "to provide for, and to encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and 'wartime experience'."
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A somewhat idiosyncratic but interesting museum with limited opening. It can only be visited on guided tours or screenings that can be booked by email or phone. The building is a former workhouse where Charlie Chaplin once lived.
Charles Chaplin lived with his mother in various addresses in and around Kennington Road in Lambeth, including 3 Pownall Terrace, Chester St and 39 Methley Street, and briefly lived with his father and his mistress, Louise, at 287 Kennington Road where a plaque now commemorates the fact. After Chaplin's mother was admitted to the Cane Hill Asylum, her son was left in the workhouse at Renfrew Road in Kennington.
A uniquely decorated house. Book in advance.
Outdoor swimming pool that's empty during cold days and has queues around the block whenever the sun is out.