16/08/2026
An overdue visit this week to The Horniman: one of South London’s great architectural treasures.
There’s something wonderfully unique about the Horniman Museum. Part museum, part architectural gem, part glorious hilltop garden and all with a rather magnificent clock tower.
The museum opened in 1901, the gift of tea merchant Frederick Horniman, who wanted to “bring the world to Forest Hill”. His extraordinary collections eventually grew into a museum of anthropology, natural history, and music.
But for me, the building itself is reason enough to visit.
Designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, this Grade II* building was created in “The Modern Style”, a style that first emerged in the Britain in the mid-1880s. It showed the evolution of design from Arts and Crafts towards the Art Nouveau
The building is constructed in Doulting stone and full of unexpected details. The rounded clock tower, little domed turrets, the magnificent barrel-vaulted exhibition hall, Romanesque arches and carved decoration make it look almost like something from a fantasy graphic novel.
It is a gem of Forest Hill and a reminder that you don’t always have to go into central London to find extraordinary architecture.
