In 1856 Sir Richard Owen (then Professor Owen) was appointed Superintendent of the natural history departments of the museum. Owen immediately began campaigning for a newer, larger museum, citing the need for greater space in the already packed museum, and his wish to display the specimens according to their taxonomic designation.
The architect Alfred Waterhouse was appointed to carry out the design submitted by Captain Francis Fowke, who had also designed the 1862 Exhibition Building, and who had died shortly after winning the design competition in 1864. The construction of the museum in South Kensington, London was completed in 1880, and the museum was opened in 1881, although specimens were still being transported from the old British Museum site to the new site until 1883! A statue of Sir Richard Owen stands at the top of the stairs overlooking the Wonders of the Natural History Museum Gallery (look for the large Diplodocus skeleton!).
When you visit the Natural History Museum, be certain to notice the ornate carvings in the museum walls, supports, and doorways. Waterhouse incorporated German Romanesque designs of animals and plants that symbolized the building's function as a museum of natural history. The building itself is so interesting that my husband and I found ourselves taking as many pictures of the carvings as we did of the exhibits!
In 1963 the Natural History Museum was designated as a separate museum from the British Museum by an Act of Parliament. In 1986 the Natural History Museum incorporated the Geological Museum, which was housed in an adjacent building, by the addition of the Lasting Impressions Gallery to link the two buildings. Today the Natural History Museum houses over 70 million specimens!
