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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 is 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.
Admission free
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