London Museum’s rediscovered underground vaults to open with free exhibition revealing life in early Roman London

• Londinium: the making of a Roman city is the inaugural exhibition in London Museum’s rediscovered network of underground vaults, opening to the public in Spring 2027
• Free to visit and presenting unseen highlights from the world-renowned Bloomberg Collection of Roman artefacts, Londinium will use sensory-rich storytelling to bring visitors face-to-face with the lives and stories of the first Londoners
• The exhibition will follow the opening of London Museum in Smithfield on 28 November 2026, one of the most ambitious cultural redevelopment projects in a decade.

5 October 2026, London: London Museum today announced Londinium: the making of a Roman city, the first exhibition to be held in the museum’s rediscovered network of underground vaults. The free exhibition opening in spring 2027 will shed light on the stories of the very first Londoners. Previously unseen objects from the unparalleled Bloomberg Collection of Roman artefacts will be brought to life through sensory storytelling, using dynamic projection and spatial soundscapes to transport visitors back to the turbulent first 50 years of Roman London: a place of trade, conflict and opportunity.

Londinium: the making of a Roman city has been created with Journey, the experience design agency behind Lightroom, whose work includes animation and projection design for the award-winning National Theatre production, War Horse and the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony. More than a decade of research into the Bloomberg Collection has pieced together a rich picture of early Roman London. Grounded in archaeological evidence, the experience imagines the petty arguments, whispered gossip and business dealings of ordinary people in this frontier settlement, as it transformed from rural landscape into a thriving urban centre.

Among the objects going on display for the first time are examples from Britain’s  most important collection of Roman wax writing tablets, etched with London’s earliest surviving voices; an infant’s feeding bottle, offering a rare insight into childcare and family life; a coin from the reign of the Emperor Nero illustrating how rapidly Londinium became connected to the Roman Empire, and Britain’s earliest known example of Eurasion cockroach eggs, discovered inside a Roman bakery oven.

Jackie Keily, Lead Curator of Londinium, said: “The Bloomberg Collection is an extraordinary discovery that has helped us build a picture of life in Roman London like never before. Protected by the waterlogged soil from which they were unearthed, this time capsule has preserved artefacts that would otherwise have been lost. From these objects, we can begin to picture the intimate and everyday experiences of Londinium’s ancient inhabitants. This was a time of loss, upheaval and hardship but also hope, opportunity and new beginnings.”

Sharon Ament, Director, London Museum, said: “When we rediscovered the vaults, we were determined to open them up. They are so specific, so evocative, so mysterious, we saw their potential straight away. So it makes me really rather pleased that the first exhibition inside them will be about the Londoners who created Londinium, with real artefacts from their lives from one of London’s most significant recent archaeological excavations.”

Jemma Read, Global Head of Corporate Philanthropy, Bloomberg, said: “Since their discovery beneath the Bloomberg building, we have always felt privileged to care for these remarkable artefacts. In gifting the collection to London Museum, we aimed to preserve its access for future generations. Londinium builds on more than a decade of research and conservation to bring the stories of London’s first citizens to life in a dynamic new cultural space – a fitting first chapter for this future home of London’s rich history.”

Unearthed during excavations at Bloomberg's European headquarters between 2012 and 2014, the Bloomberg Collection represents one of the richest snapshots of early Roman Britain ever discovered. The world-renowned trove of more than 14,000 significant artefacts was gifted to London Museum in 2025 by Bloomberg Philanthropies. It is the largest assemblage of small finds ever recovered from a single archaeological excavation site in London and the single largest archive ever received by the museum.

Early wonders from the collection were first displayed in 2017 as part of the acclaimed London Mithraeum – a free experience inviting visitors to explore the remains of a Roman temple built to worship the god Mithras. Situated on the site of Bloomberg’s European headquarters, the London Mithraeum is just a few streets away from the museum’s new home in Smithfield, both located within the historic City of London. Londinium: the making of a Roman city expands access to more of this rich collection, shaped by a decade of research from leading archaeological experts and specialists, including Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) who led the 2012 - 2014 excavation.

The lost vaults were rediscovered in 2019, when builders broke through a wall during the museum’s decade-long renovation of Smithfield’s Victorian General Market and found an 800sqm underground network. Thought to have been used as storage units by the market and nearby railway, the long-abandoned spaces have now been transformed into a remarkable new setting that will evolve to host experiences, displays and events. Londinium: the making of a Roman city will be the first opportunity for visitors to step inside the vaults.

Londinium: the making of a Roman city will sit alongside a broader story about Roman London told in the museum’s permanent galleries, where London’s history is told from its earliest prehistoric inhabitants, to transformative events like the Great Fire and the Blitz, and cultural milestones like the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

London Museum opens to the public on 28 November 2026. Londinium: the making of a Roman city will open in Spring 2027.

Further stories and insights from archaeologists, curators and academics who have been studying the collection will be made available on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app.

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• London Museum is transforming two former market buildings in the City of London, the historic heart of the capital. It is one of the most ambitious cultural redevelopments of the coming decade and will play a key role in the transformation of Smithfield into a vibrant new cultural quarter for the city.
• The formerly derelict Victorian General Market will open on 28 November 2026 as home to the museum’s permanent galleries, cafe, retail and event spaces. The adjacent Poultry Market, set to house the museum’s world-class learning centre, temporary exhibition spaces and collection stores, will open in 2028.
• London Museum is designed by Stanton Williams and Asif Khan, working with conservation architects Julian Harrap.
• The £437m project has been developed through a unique partnership between London Museum, the City of London Corporation and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, alongside support from a range of philanthropic supporters including Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Goldsmiths’ Foundation, The Linbury Trust and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. A number of individual philanthropists and charitable trusts have also pledged significant support to the project.

London Museum is London’s shared place in the middle of it all. No matter where you’ve come from, how long you’re staying for, or what side of the river you live on, we offer a home for exploration and adventure where all of London’s stories cross and collide. At our heart we're a social history museum and we tell the stories of how London came to be. But we're also contemporary collectors keeping our finger on the pulse. We're the world's biggest city museum. At the core of London Museum is our collection, which covers 450,000 years of history through seven million objects drawn from across all 33 boroughs. It's the largest collection in the world relating to a single urban centre and includes one of the world’s largest archaeological archives in the world.

Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 700 cities and 150 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on creating lasting change in five key areas: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s giving, including his foundation, corporate, and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consultancy that advises cities around the world. In 2025, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $4.3. billion. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org, sign up for our newsletter, or follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, Facebook, and X.