This is one of those blog posts where I’m glad I don’t take advertising on this blog anymore, as I imagine this post would get demonetised. This is the fifth of my blog posts about last month’s trip to London; I’m aware that we’ve been back for a month now, and there’s still a sixth and final post to go live this week. Today’s post is all about The Vagina Museum.
A Vagina Museum‽
Yes, a museum all about vaginas. Well, and the wider reproductive organs of women and others with vaginas – the museum tries very hard to be inclusive of trans and non-binary people as well.
It’s not a very big museum, and occupies two railway arches under the Weaver Line of the London Overground. It’s made up of three small named exhibitions spaces, called Betsey, Lucy and Anarcha, named after three enslaved Black American women who were all experimented on, and from whom our modern understanding of gynaecology is derived. Betsey’s gallery, upstairs, is home to the permanent exhibition, where you can see a complete preserved uterus (Christine commented that it was smaller than expected, considering how much it hurts when she’s on her period) and many photos of different types of vulvas.
Also upstairs is Anarcha’s gallery, which has written pieces from migrant women about their first period, and the challenges that their status as refugees has caused.
Downstairs, as well as the excellent gift shop, is Lucy’s gallery, and the current temporary exhibition about menopause, including its history and how our understanding of it has changed over time.
In all, we spent about an hour in the museum. It’s quite text heavy, and I don’t think our ten-year-old would have got much out of it, but we both found it enlightening. I’d definitely recommend visiting if you have a vagina, or live with someone who does.
Accessibility
Accessibility is good – there is a lift to the upstairs galleries, and no steps. There’s a single, gender-neutral, accessible toilet available. If you need a Changing Places toilet, then there is one nearby at the Young V&A (which we visited in 2024).
Entry to the museum is free, but a £5 donation is strongly encouraged. And did I mention that the gift shop is excellent? Note that museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
The museum is very close to Cambridge Heath station on the London Overground, and a little further from Bethnal Green tube station on the Central Line. We got there on the 254 bus from outside Aldgate tube station, which is probably your best option for step-free transport; the nearest step-free station is Hoxton on the Windrush Line, which is a 20-25 minute walk.
I haven’t been noting about car parking or electric car charging in these London reviews, as we didn’t drive and I think you would be mad to drive in London, but there is a rapid Shell Recharge station around the corner.
