Museums Office Confirms Five National Museums and Their Opening Dates

The Museums Office of the Velocity Interoperability Network today confirmed the sites and opening dates of the five national museums it is preparing, together with those of the National Study Centre. None of the museums is yet open to the public, and the Office has published the full programme so that visitors, schools and researchers may plan accordingly.

The National Study Centre at Westbrook opens first, on 18 January 2027, holding the reserve collections, the conservation studios and the study rooms in which objects not on display may be consulted. The Museum of the Network at Central Exchange opens on 3 May 2027, the Museum of Industry at Northgate Relay on 6 September 2027, the Gallery of the Network at Meridian Court on 15 November 2027, the Maritime Museum at Southbank Terminal on 4 April 2028 and the Museum of Natural History at Eastfield Campus on 12 September 2028.

Admission to every national museum will be free to all visitors, whether or not they are citizens of the Network. Buildings are being fitted out and stores commissioned in advance of each opening date; where a date changes, the revised date will be announced in the Newsroom and the register on the Our Museums page amended. Until the first museum opens, the collections may be seen in the Office's travelling exhibitions at Network sites.