Natural History Museum - The Building

The Natural History Museum building is known as the Waterhouse Building, and in my opinion is one of the most interesting and the most pretty buildings in London.

I'm not going to pretend to know much about architecture, I would prefer to divert you to the History and Architecture section of the National History Museum website. However I have written a few bits and pieces below on some of my favourite parts of the building to get you started.

The original idea for the decorations of the building all come from nature in the past and present. Wherever you look on the inside and out there are plant and animal motifs. Even the things that you don't think could be based on plants or animals probably are =)

One of the first things that you are likely to notice are the many statues and gargoyles that adorn the roof line of both the inside an outside of the building. These include many extinct animals and dinosaurs such as the Pterodactyl.


Many of the columns display pattens from fossil trees, and the iron arches in the main hall have alternating flower and leaf motifs.


The attention to detail in the building in incredible, and it is really worth devoting time looking at the building itself as well as the exhibitions inside it.

Natural History Museum - General Info

The Natural History Museum is a very interesting place to visit. It is absolutely vast, and I always come away knowing something that I didn't before.

There are four areas: Blue zone, Red zone, Green zone and Orange zone. The Blue zone has exhibits on all living creatures including the dinosaurs. The Red zone covers the Earth including sections on earthquakes and volcanos as well as glittering gemstones. The Green zone is about life on our planet and among other things covers evolution, fossils, bugs and the environment.

The front can often have large queues, and although they don't usually take long to get inside, it is worth checking the side entrance as this can have no queue at all.

Natural History Museum - The Power Within

This exhibition explores the power the comes from within the earth such as volcanos and earthquakes.

There are a lots of different samples of rocks which have been formed through different methods by the earth. You can touch nearly all of these, and being able to feel them really helps you to understand the different types of rock and the impact of some of the intense elements on the planet. My favourite was the Obsidian glass, an opaque black glass which is formed by a volcano.

You can also experience what an earthquake would have felt like in a Japanese supermarket. For those  who have never experienced one, the shaking whilst watching video of a real earthquake can give you an indication of how a real earthquake would feel. There are also

I enjoyed this exhibition as it has a lot to look at and it has that element of being cool because it is about volcanos and earthquakes.

I will update this post with more detail information on my next visit.