British Museum Forecourt

The British Museum was built in 1823-52 to designs of Sir Robert Smirke (1780-1867) although there have been later additions to the buildings. It was planned as a large quadrangle in the then fashionable Greek Revival style, with an open courtyard extending north from Montagu House, which was the original museum housing the collection of Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753). Sloane had bequeathed his large collection of some 71,000 objects to the king, George II, to preserve it for the nation, a gift that was accepted in June 1753. An Act of Parliament was passed to set up the British Museum and it was opened to the public on 15 January 1759, at that time in Montagu House, a C17th house, which the Trustees had purchased in 1755. This grand mansion had been built for Ralph Montagu who lived here with his family; behind the house was a large formal garden laid out in the French style with grass, gravel walks, fountain and ornamental sculpture, much admired at the time.

The gardens had become neglected by the time Montagu House was purchased for the museum and the Trustees then employed their gardener, Mr Bramley, for 'Rolling, Mowing, Watering, Planting, Digging, Pruning the Trees'. By the end of 1755 it was reported that 'The whole garden has been mowed, weeded and cleared of the Anthills; the Gravel Walks and borders restored, the Slopes made less steep and together with the borders planted; the Kitchen Garden trenched; a Tool House built in it; and the Basin repaired.' Now restored, the gardens were opened to visitors on 11 March 1757 and proved so popular that the Trustees issued season tickets for admission, although like the Museum it was free. By the time the museum opened it included other collections, notably the Old Royal Library, which had been donated by George II. New acquisitions and gifts were made, including King George III's Library in 1823, and this led to the need for a larger building.

Robert Smirke's new museum was built in stages, the East Wing of 1823-26 was built to house George IV's library and Angerstein pictures, which later formed the basis of the National Gallery collection. The West Wing of 1831-4 was built to house antiquities, as was the North Wing of 1833-8. The former was redecorated to Smirke's original colour scheme in 1980. The South Range of 1842-7 was built as the principal facade following the demolition of Montagu House in c.1840. The garden of Montagu House was also entirely built over. The Reading Room was built in 1857 in the middle of the Great Court. In the 1880s the natural history collections were transferred to the new Natural History Museum (q.v.) built in South Kensington. The British Museum expanded to the north during the C19th, the last main addition being the King Edward VII Gallery of 1914, facing Montague Place. From the first admission was free and over the decades the Museum's popularity increased, attracting people of all ages and social standing. The main entrance is from Great Russell Street, the gateway, railings and Porters' Lodges of 1849 designed by Sydney Smirke, Sir Robert's brother, who took over as architect in 1845. The large, elaborate, cast-iron double vehicle entrance gates are flanked by single foot gates.

Within the railings the Museum Forecourt consists of two areas with grass and trees either side of the main path to the steps of the Museum. The Forecourt has been used for special exhibitions from time to time, such as the Africa Garden in 2005 when sculptures by contemporary African artists were exhibited. In summer 2008 China Landscape, the first of a series of five planned collaborations with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (q.v.), was created on the West Lawn. Trees, shrubs, climbers and flowering plants were planted either side of a meandering path, and included gingko, bamboo, dawn redwood, weeping willow, Chusan palm, white mulberry, tree peony, wisteria, handkerchief tree and lacquer tree. A Chinese scholar's garden and other elements of traditional garden design were recreated. This was followed in summer 2009 by the India Landscape inspired by the collections of both the Museum and Kew Gardens and which included plants used in food, medicine, construction, weaving and commerce connected with traditional culture of the Indian subcontinent.