Natural History Museum reopens gallery closed since 1943

The Natural History Museum in London is reopening a gallery on the second floor of its Waterhouse building that has been closed to the public for over 80 years. Titled ‘Nature and Us’, the free-to-visit space was last accessible to visitors in 1943.

The exhibition features 50 objects and specimens, including a 400,000-year-old handaxe and a bryozoan-encrusted Star Wars toy, intended to explore the evolving relationship between humans and the natural world. The space previously served as an osteology and mammals gallery before being used for botanical collections after the museum's original herbarium was damaged during World War Two.

This reopening is part of the NHM150 campaign, a transformation project for the South Kensington site aimed at increasing visitor capacity. The gallery will remain open for an initial 18-month period to gather visitor feedback before a permanent gallery opens in 2029. The project is supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation.