Museum of Richmond
What Visitors Say
An impressive and imposing building houses the Richmond Museum along with the Library. It is next to the banks of the Thames where many people visit daily for the coolness, for a walk or to practice their painting skills while looking at the view
Nice place to visit and learn some of the local history and as many other London museums free of charge. There is a children play area as well.
A small museum tucked away on the second floor of the Old Town Hall and above the reference library. It had a selection of artefacts from Richmond's history, including from the royal place that was once located here. It also has a small shop.
On the second floor, interesting artifacts from 'Pomona' face mask 2014 to Rabbit mask 'An Octoroon' 2017. Artifacts from river Thames ex. Mesolithic Flint axe.
Highlights
Richmond Palace & the Tudors
Explores Henry VII’s rebuilding of the old Shene Palace as ‘Richmond’ and the court life that followed.Tiles, seals and architectural fragments outline a vanished riverside residence where Elizabeth I spent her last days in 1603.
Tudor gallery
River Thames: Trade & Leisure
Charts the Thames as lifeline—ferries, wharfs, boatbuilding—and as a leisure stage for skiffs, regattas and painting.Engravings and boat gear show how transport and pleasure overlapped on this gentle bend of the river.
River & bridges section
From Spa Town to Suburb
Documents fashionability, new bridges and railways pulling Richmond into the metropolitan orbit.Tickets, hotelware and health-spa ephemera trace how visitors turned into residents.
Georgian–Victorian cases
Opening Hours
Fun Facts
Henry VII renamed Shene Palace ‘Richmond’ after his earldom in Yorkshire; the new name spread to the whole town.
Elizabeth I died at Richmond Palace in 1603, making the site a bookend to the Tudor era; only fragments of the vast complex survive today.
Successive bridges at Richmond—ferries, a wooden structure, and later a graceful 18th-century stone bridge—reshaped river traffic and the town’s street plan.
