Free
#180
Salvation Army International Heritage Centre
The global archive-museum of The Salvation Army, housed at William Booth College (1929–31, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott). Collections trace the movement from William and Catherine Booth’s East End mission (founded 1865) to an international church and charity—through uniforms, flags, instruments, posters, periodicals and personal papers.
Opening Hours
Monday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Tuesday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Wednesday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Thursday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Friday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
What's not to miss inside?
Origins: East London Mission
Pins the movement to time and place—1865, Whitechapel—through early photographs, handbills and the ‘War Cry’ newspaper (from 1879).Street preaching, soup kitchens and printed appeals show an organisation built on publicity and practicality.
📍 Founders’ gallery
Music & Uniform
Explains how brass bands and distinctive dress created instant street-level identity.Cornets, drums and bonnets are not props but tools—portable signals in noisy urban space.
📍 Material culture displays
‘In Darkest England’ Scheme
Shows the 1890 programme proposing shelters, labour colonies and rehabilitation—a blueprint for modern social services.Diagrams and reports map a system from rescue to training to employment.
📍 Social work section
Inspire your Friends
- William Booth College, home to the Heritage Centre, was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott—the architect of Bankside Power Station (now Tate Modern) and the red telephone box—and opened in 1931.
- The Salvation Army’s weekly ‘War Cry’ began in 1879 and became one of the world’s most widely distributed religious newspapers, funding and publicising social work.
- The 1890 book ‘In Darkest England and the Way Out’ outlined a national network of ‘City Colonies’ and ‘Farm Colonies’—a system that influenced later state welfare models.
