Geffrye Museum

This building is named after Sir Robert Geffrye, the Lord Mayor of London in 1685, who left the land for almshouses and a chapel for the poor.

The almshouses, completed in 1715, were built for ironworkers and their widows, and in 1914 the beautiful Grade I listed building was converted into a museum, mostly devoted to interior design.

The fascinating museum has a series of furnished period rooms showing the changing style of the English domestic interiors from 1600 to today.

A new extension houses the 20th century rooms and exhibits, with Edwardian, 1930s, 1960s and 1990s rooms arranged around a staircase leading down to a design centre, educational art rooms and a temporary exhibition gallery.

The Geffrye Design Centre is a showcase gallery for today's designers based in the East End.

The museum also has a reference library and a furniture trade archive and there is an innovative programme of lectures and activities.

Every December the museum holds its popular 'Christmas Past' season. All the rooms are transformed reflecting 400 years of Christmas traditions.

The Geffrye Museum has gardens, including a walled herb garden which is open between April and October. In the summer there free jazz and world music concerts on the lawns.