Cuming Museum

[2] Richard Cuming (1777–1870) started his collecting life when he was only five years old, with some fossils and a coin that had been given to him by a family friend.

[3] The collection was bequeathed to the people of Southwark by his son, Henry Syer Cuming, in 1902, and the museum opened in 1906.

[4] As described in Cuming's will, it comprised "My Museum illustrative of Natural History, Archaeology and Ethnology with my coins and medals and... other curios".

[5] The museum galleries were moved from the first floor of the Newington Public Library to the building next door, the former Walworth Town Hall, in 2006.

[4] On 25 March 2013, that building was seriously damaged by fire, severely affecting the museum galleries but leading to only a very small loss from the collections.