Upcoming Events

“This Thing I did”: The Imperial War Museum at the Crystal Palace

Online illustrated talk via Zoom on Tuesday 18th August 2020 at 19:30

One hundred years ago in June, the Imperial War Museum opened at the Crystal Palace. Strange as it may seem, those lofty halls of glass and iron played host to a museum commemorating the Great War. It was the museum’s first home, displaying a vast collection including aircraft suspended from the ceiling, great imposing guns, models of battlefields and fine war art.

In this online talk, Crystal Palace Museum Tour Guide, Richard Watkins tells the story of how the Imperial War Museum was set up, brought to the Palace and viewed by millions of visitors who would not have seen any museum or war commemoration like it before. 

You can view a taster of the talk on our Facebook Page here.