The Geffrye: Museum of the Home, Shoreditch, London

The Geffrye Museum on Kingsland Road, Shoreditch, was established in 1914, originally being almshouses built in 1714.

 

Sir Robert Geffrye, the founder of the almshouses and Master of the Ironmongers' Company.

 

Up to fifty elderly poor people lived around this front garden area.

 

A partial view of the inside of the chapel.

 

The apse is a late 18th century addition.

On the other side, the reading room overlooks the back garden.

But the essential part of the museum is its display of home interiors, of which I found that the most recent ones were the easiest to photograph. They all represent middle-class homes. The room above is a reconstruction of an Edwardian (1900–14) drawing room in a semi-detached house. Electricity would have been a feature.

A 1930s living-cum-dining room in a London flat, which would have had running hot water, central heating, and wide windows.

A living-cum-dining room typical of an early 1960s house. The focal point of the room moves from the fireplace to the television.

 

Finally, from the 1990s, commercial premises converted into living space. Bare floorboards, minimal furniture.

The back garden.

An outside view of the reading room.

 

There is also a tiny cemetery which includes the founder's tomb.