One of the best museums in London that I’ve seen is one of its newest and probably least well known. The Museum in Docklands is an offshoot of the Museum of London and only opened in 2003 in converted sugar warehouses in West India Quay.

It tells the story of London in relation to the River Thames. Why people first settled along the river and where, how invaders such as the Romans, Vikings, Danes, the Angles and Saxons and the Normans changed London and impacted on the people and what was their legacy.

Getting there

To get to the museum it’s easiest to get off the Dockland’s Light Railway at West India Quay, walk past the Marriot Hotel to the end of the long brick building with the outside bars and restaurants and you’ll see the museum with two big river buoy’s in front of it.

Tips for visitors

The museum’s on three levels and the friendly staff will tell you to start on the 3rd floor and work your way down. Entrance to the Museum in Docklands costs £5 (free under 16s), which is different to its parent Museum of London or some of the other big ones around town which are free, but it’s worth paying to go in and the ticket is valid for a year so you can get value for money.

On the third floor you’ll start in a gallery called Thames Highway which looks at London as a port from AD43 when the Romans were running the show to 1600. Other galleries on that floor include Trade Expansion 1600-1800, looking at how Britain gaining an empire made London richer and Coming of the Docks focusing on the construction of docklands.

There are lifts and stairs to the third floor including a mobility lift for wheelchair users and wheelchairs and powered scooters can be borrowed free of charge. There is also a cloakroom and set of toilets on the third floor.

The second floor galleries look at all aspects of London as a port for 200 years from 1800 onwards. There are half a dozen different sections including one called Sailor Town featuring full size recreations of the narrow streets, alleys and shops that would have greeted incoming sailors to London a 150 years or more ago.

The museum has thousands of original items to show such as the Gibbet on the right, which were hung along the riverbank and into which the bodies of executed pirates were put to rot. Captain Kidd ended up gibbeted at Tilbury in 1701.

On the ground floor are the main reception, a coffee shop, a bar and dining area and a play section for kids.

As well as the permanent exhibitions the Museum in Docklands also has regular special ones, the next of which is Journey to the New World: London 1606 to Virginia 1607, running from 23 November 2006 to 13 May 2007 and commemorating the 400th anniversary of the establishment of the first English settlement in America at Jamestown. The exhibition tells the story of the crossing and the development of Jamestown and there’s no extra charge to view this.

If it seems a little away from the normal tourist track I’d still recommend getting down to Museum in Docklands. Its got some great exhibits on the story of London and when you come out you’re in an excellent location to have a drink or go for dinner