Tourism

A cleaver little museum that you won't want to leave

This modest but well-proportioned museum is cleverly devoted to the concept of cultural development around the world, it's a big topic and to be fair the museum only really manages to touch up-on a small fraction of its subject matter, namely religious heritage, Music and natural history. It may not be broad but it is detailed in what it does cover.
As you enter you are stuck and enlivened to see that while this is an old museum its building and accruements are brand new and state of the art, it beckoning and well-lit space and works very well in its engagement with the visitor.
The primary hall you come to on the first floor is the natural history section. Really just a vast room full of stuffed and pickled creatures from around the globe, the children will be struck by it as they are unlikely to have happened upon this much stuffed wildlife in their lives. The section includes a huge stuffed Walrus (the size of a small car no less) Great White Shark's Jaws, birds from every continent on earth and numerous other species that will capture your gaze, the point of evolutionary diversity from around the world is perhaps not pressed very hard at this point, but who cares, it's just cool to see snakes and deadly spiders up close in a way that is reassuringly tame.
From here is the curiously named "Romanian Room" curious to us anyway as it had nothing to do with Romania inside. Instead it's a homage to clothing and religion from all around the world and works hard to show cultural development in counties being as sophisticated as any other county. On top of this is the newly opened Aquarium, modestly priced at under £9 for a family, but in truth this space is rather less remarkable and houses many small species that you could probably see in any dentist waiting room tbh.
Overall the museum and indeed the surrounding area are worth getting to know better as you have the sense of being in London but in the quiet manageable bit. The museum is 45 mins drive from Grays.

Postcode: SE23 3PQ
More information: horniman.ac.uk