London Museum Receives Roman Artefacts and £20 Million
London Museum announced a gift of the single largest archive of archaeological material ever received by the museum, a world-renowned collection of Roman artefacts uncovered on the site of Bloomberg’s European headquarters in the City of London. The museum also announced £20 million of funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies that will help transform two of the historic Smithfield market buildings into a dynamic new home for London’s stories, expand access to its collection through digital innovation and make new archaeological discoveries available for research and public display for the first time. The support from Bloomberg Philanthropies is the museum’s largest private donation to date. Set to open in 2026, London Museum is one of the largest cultural infrastructure projects in Europe and will be a new landmark cultural destination for the capital.
The restored Roman Temple of Mithras under the Bloomberg Building, Walbrook, City of London. Image: It’s No Game – London Mithraeum / CC BY 2.0
The Bloomberg Collection includes more than 14,000 Roman artefacts uncovered by Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) archaeologists during the construction of Bloomberg’s European headquarters in the City of London between 2012 and 2014. The extensive archaeological project, funded by Bloomberg, was one of the most significant excavations in London’s history. Known internationally as home to a 3rd century AD temple to the Roman god Mithras, discoveries on the Bloomberg site include Britain’s largest, earliest and most significant collection of Roman writing tablets, which reveal the earliest surviving voices of Roman Londoners, including the first written reference to London.
The temple and around 600 of the artefacts have been on permanent, free public display at the award-winning London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE since its opening on the Bloomberg site in 2017 – and will remain there – but many stories remain untold. The Bloomberg Collection will now join one of the world’s largest archaeological archives at London Museum, enhancing public accessibility, preserving it for future generations and offering unparalleled research opportunities into early Roman London. Much of the collection has never been seen before and the museum plans to make new objects from the collection available to the public for the first time when it opens in 2026. Based in its evocative subterranean galleries, situated at Roman street level, they will be a key addition to the museum’s new home.
Artefacts recovered from the excavation of the Mithraeum in the City of London. On display at the Bloomberg building. Image: Ethan Doyle White – Own work / CC BY-SA 4.0
Sharon Ament, Director, London Museum, said: “The collection together with this generous donation represents a momentous gift that ties the past to the future and which will be a lasting legacy for London. Working together with organisations like Bloomberg, we have the power to make a big difference: not just in preserving the city’s heritage but in creating amazing spaces and new opportunities for the Londoners of today. We are hugely ambitious for this project – from setting high standards in sustainability, to creating new apprenticeships for young people; moving the dial on digital opportunities to involving a record number of Londoners in the making of the museum. This will be a place truly of and for the city that we hope Londoners will be proud of. We want to thank Mike Bloomberg and Bloomberg Philanthropies for supporting our vision and for being generous champions of London’s culture.”
Michael R. Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies, said: “London has an extraordinary history with so much to teach and discover. These remarkable artefacts offer a unique window into the past, connecting us directly to the voices of its ancient inhabitants. As someone who considers London my second home, I’m honored that our company will be able to help bring these stories to life while strengthening the City’s future. Investments in arts and culture bring important benefits, from driving economic growth and job creation, to sparking creativity and innovation, to fostering tolerance and civic pride. The new London Museum represents one of the most ambitious cultural projects globally and it will create a dynamic new home where London’s rich history of stories will inspire future generations.”
Curator Meriel Jeater inspecting boxes on shelving in The Metal Store at Mortimer Wheeler Houss, London Museum Stores. John Chase. ©London Museum.
One of the most ambitious cultural redevelopments of the coming decade, London Museum will become one of the city’s top visitor attractions and play a key role in the transformation of Smithfield, creating a new cultural quarter for London. Housed within historic Smithfield market buildings, the museum will welcome over 2 million people each year, of which half will be tourists. It will support economic growth, local businesses, and employment, contributing an estimated £565m in GVA (Gross Value Added) within 10 years of opening. Through its learning centre, it will seek to engage every London schoolchild. Increased gallery space will enable visitors to enjoy more of London Museum’s 7 million strong collection than ever before.
Thiss announcement builds on a broader, long-term collaboration between Bloomberg Philanthropies and London Museum. In 2023, the museum announced support from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Digital Accelerator Programme for Arts and Culture to support the transformation of its digital infrastructure and improve access to its collection online.
Through bold approaches and innovative partnerships, the Bloomberg Philanthropies Arts program supports increased access to culture through new technologies and empowers artists and cultural organisations all over the world. Now partnering with more than 700 cultural organisations globally, Bloomberg Philanthropies has been investing in the UK’s most dynamic, vibrant, and exciting cultural voices at every level of the sector for more than 25 years. This includes hosting digital guides from 200 UK cultural organisations on the free Bloomberg Connects app, including London Museum Docklands.
