Professor Hutton's Curiosities

Pollocks Toy Museum is a delicious hidden gem. It takes its name from Benjamin Pollock, the last of the Victorian Toy Theatre printers, and was set up in the 1960’s by Marguerite Fawdry who, after buying up all the stock of Benjamin Pollock, slowly but surely built up one the largest collection of 19th and 20th century toys in the world. The museum is housed in two charming old buildings just north of Soho in London. It’s a fascinating exhibition of miniature theatres, teddy bears, wax and china dolls, board games, mechanical toys and doll’s houses. Today, the museum is still in family hands, and is run by Eddy Fawdry, Marguerite’s grandson who shows Professor Hutton around. The Professor also visits The Royal Society. It was established by the Royal Charter of King Charles ll in 1663 and has been at the heart of modern science for 350 years. Some of the greatest names of our age have been active members, including Sir Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle and Sir Christopher Wren.

The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology based at University College in London, houses an estimated 80,000 objects, making it one of the greatest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology in the world. It illustrates life in the Nile Valley from prehistory through the time of the pharaohs, and up to the Roman period. The bulk of the collection was sold to the University by the eminent archaeologist, Sir William Flinders Petrie in 1913. The collection includes one of the earliest pieces of linen from ancient Egypt, one of the earliest known examples of monumental sculpture, and the oldest known wills on papyrus paper. Petrie was fascinated with everyday life in Egypt, not just the Pharaohs, so the museum is packed with lots of little charming items that you don’t see elsewhere. Tracy Golding, the Museum Manager, shows Professor Hutton around.

The Professor's first stop this week is at the Leighton House Museum. It was the former home and studio of the leading Victorian artist, Frederic, Lord Leighton. He bought it for just £4500 in 1866, slowly adding and extending it. Next, Professor Hutton pays a visit to The Museum of the Order of St. John. Based in St. John's Gate, the building is a 16th century gatehouse that once formed the entrance to the much older Priory of Clerkenwell, once the English headquarters of the 11th century Order of St. John who went out to Jerusalem as part of the Crusades.

In the second episode of this week's double bill, Professor Hutton visits The Hunterian Museum & Library in Holborn. The museum is housed on the first floor of the Royal College of Surgeons. It’s one of the oldest collections of anatomical and pathological specimens in the country and is based on items first assembled by John Hunter, the 18th Century surgeon and anatomist. Then it's off to London’s Cinema Museum which is devoted to keeping alive the spirit of cinema from the days long before the multiplex. The museum also has some serious Hollywood credentials, as it’s based in the Master’s House of the old Lambeth Workhouse where Charlie Chaplin was taken as a boy, with his mother and brother.