London Fire Brigade Museum

Address: | 94a Southwark Bridge Rd, SE1 0EG |
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Phone: | 020-8555 1200 |
Website: | |
Opening times: | Mon–Fri by guided tour 10:30 and 14:00 |
How to get there: | Tube: Borough |
Entry fee: | Admission charge |
Additional information: | Shop |
Located in the London Fire Brigade’s Training Centre at Winchester House, this old-fashioned museum presents the most comprehensive range of artefacts related to firefighting in the UK. The house was built in 1820 on land formerly part of the Bishop of Winchester’s estate, and became the home of the Brigade’s Chief Officer, Captain Eyre Massey Shaw, in 1878. Credited with introducing steam engines at all fire stations and pioneering the use of the telegraph, Massey Shaw lived here until 1891. The building remained the London Fire Brigade’s HQ until 1937, when it moved to the Albert Embankment. The Brigade was formed in 1833 with James Braidwood from Edinburgh as its first Chief Officer. In charge of a full-time team of 80 firemen operating from 13 different stations, Braidwood was the first to encourage the entering of burning houses to tackle the source of conflagrations and invented one of the earliest forms of breathing apparatus. He himself was killed in 1861 by a collapsing wall while fighting a fire at the Tooley Street Warehouse. His funeral procession drew massive crowds. |
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MUSEUMS & GALLERIES OF LONDON
Details below are taken from our Blue Guide Museums and Galleries of London. This is a 2005 title, here generally updated for website address and opening times, with useful comments from some of the museums themselves. More recent information is given in Emily Barber's magisterial new Blue Guide London, "Exceptional update to a classic and useful guide to this amazing city" (Amazon reader review).
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