a second-floor space in the Waterhouse building, shut to the public since 1943, has welcomed visitors again after more than 80 years.
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space → shut → years
Its opening exhibition, Nature and Us, gathers 50 objects that show how people have imagined, exploited and reinterpreted the natural world, including a handaxe made 400,000 years ago.
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people → gather → handaxe
Admission is free, and the exhibition will run for an initial 18 months.
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exhibition → run → months
Behind the exhibition stands a collection of more than 80 million specimens spanning 4.5 billion years, which the museum calls the most important of its kind anywhere in the world.
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museum → stand → world
Why the beautiful Waterhouse building gallery vanished from public view during the Second World War
Before it closed, the room worked as two galleries in one: an osteology gallery devoted to skeletons, and a mammals gallery.
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room → vanish → skeletons
Historic photographs released by the Natural History Museum show it as the Osteology gallery in 1893 and as the Upper Mammals Gallery in 1911.
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photographs → release → 1911
Everything changed when the museum’s original herbarium, its collection of preserved plants, was damaged during the Second World War.
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herbarium → change → War
The room was repurposed to house the botanical collections and was no longer open to visitors.
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room → repurpose → visitors
Its original wooden herbarium cabinets remain in place, a reminder of its long life as a working space for scientific collections.
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cabinets → remain → collections
From a 400,000-year-old handaxe to a Star Wars toy: the objects telling nature’s story
The exhibition moves well beyond fossils and skeletons.
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exhibition → tell → fossils
A miniature model of a Crystal Palace dinosaur shows how early scientists and artists pictured prehistoric life.
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scientists → show → life
Jenny, a Victorian skeleton of a monk seal, reveals how wild animals were once exploited for entertainment.
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animals → reveal → entertainment
A toy from the Star Wars films, made in the 1980s and now encrusted with bryozoans (tiny water-dwelling animals), shows how everyday items can take on new meanings through contact with nature and the passing of time.
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items → make → time
The handaxe, meanwhile, is an object whose discovery transformed understanding of when humans first existed.
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humans → transform → understanding
Visitors can also touch a replica jaw from one of Britain’s earliest known domesticated dogs, which lived around 14,300 years ago and offers evidence of the long bond between people and dogs.
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which → touch → people
A visitor-led experiment that will shape the permanent gallery planned to open in 2029
The content of Nature and Us is deliberately experimental.
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content → lead → Nature
Visitors can have their say, and their responses will help decide which stories appear in the permanent gallery that is due to open in 2029.
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that → have → 2029
Claire Andrews, Head of Community Engagement at the Natural Environment Research Council, said in the museum’s announcement that the space would help audiences explore their connection with nature.
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audiences → say → nature
She added that she was confident it would captivate minds and encourage people to examine their own relationship with the natural world and how science can drive action for the planet.
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science → add → planet
The wider plan to open a new or refreshed Natural History Museum gallery every year to 2031
The reopening is part of the museum’s campaign to transform its South Kensington building ahead of its 150th anniversary in 2031.
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reopening → open → 2031
The plan is to open a brand new or revitalised gallery every year until then, with the aim of welcoming 1 million more visitors annually and engaging 10 million schoolchildren, families and changemakers.
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plan → open → schoolchildren
It follows the gallery Fixing Our Broken Planet, which the museum says has been visited by 3 million people since opening in 2025.
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museum → follow → 2025
The campaign is also seeking to raise an additional £150 million.
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campaign → seek → million
Doug Gurr, the museum’s director, said in the announcement that the reopening was “an exciting moment for the Museum” and that new spaces like this are meant to inspire people to become advocates for the planet.
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spaces → say → planet
The museum’s stated mission is to create more than 100 million of them by 2031.
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mission → create → 2031
Who funded the reopening and how to visit the gallery on Cromwell Road in South Kensington
Nature and Us opened to the public on 16 September.
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visit → fund → September
Björn Savén is the associate funder, and the museum also thanked Ned F. Kuehn, Roger Gahagan, the Edith Murphy Foundation and The James & Shirley Sherwood Foundation for their support.
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museum → thank → support
It is closed from 24 to 26 December.
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It → close → December
The Aporia
