The Museum of the Home is closed on Mondays. Its Kingsland Road Gardens are not. They run Monday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, while the museum itself and the Gardens Through Time run Tuesday to Sunday. So the one day the building is shut is still a day you can use the place, and nobody says so.
It is free, it is at 136 Kingsland Road, E2 8EA, and it is directly opposite Hoxton station.
The hours, which are three different sets
This is the whole planning problem, and it is worth getting right.
The museum: Tuesday to Sunday and bank holidays, 10am to 5pm. Closed Mondays.
Gardens Through Time: Tuesday to Sunday and bank holidays, 10am to 5pm. Same as the museum.
Kingsland Road Gardens: Monday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Seven days.
There is one complication to check before travelling. The Kingsland Road Gardens close on planned dates during the summer events season, and when they are shut you have to use the entrance opposite Hoxton station instead. The rest of the museum, including Gardens Through Time, stays open on those days. The dates are published in advance.
What is actually in it
The Home Galleries, the Rooms, and Gardens Through Time, plus a changing programme of temporary exhibitions, events and guided tours.
The museum recommends allowing at least an hour, which is an honest figure rather than an inflated one, and it says plainly that the rooms, exhibits and gardens change through the year.
It is a registered charity and a company, part funded by government and run by trustees. Entry is free and stays free.
The rules that catch people out
You cannot eat or drink in the galleries or in Gardens Through Time. There is a Lunch Room that everyone is welcome to use, including families with young children, and you can picnic in the Kingsland Road Gardens, which is the other reason those gardens are the useful part on a warm day.
Children must be accompanied at all times, and the museum reserves the right to refuse entry to any unaccompanied child under 12.
Photography is welcome but without flash, tripods or extra lighting. No smoking or vaping anywhere on site. No animals in the gardens or buildings except registered assistance animals in their harnesses.
In the gardens: no ball games, no picking or pruning, stay on the paths, and lock bicycles and scooters at the cycle racks rather than the railings, at your own risk.
Access
There is step free access to all galleries. The museum publishes a fuller accessibility page, and the bookings team answers questions on 020 7739 9893 or at bookings@museumofthehome.org.uk.
The reason to come on a Sunday
Hoxton station is the useful fact here. Columbia Road Flower Market is about seven minutes’ walk from the same station, and it runs on Sundays from 8am until about three.
That makes an unusually good morning: the market at eight, when it is quiet and well stocked, and the museum at ten, when it opens, both free apart from whatever the flowers cost. Our Columbia Road page covers the market end.
It is also a short walk from Shoreditch and Brick Lane, so the museum works as the quiet hour in the middle of a day that is otherwise crowded.
Where it sits among the free museums
London has a lot of free museums and most of them are enormous. This one is not, and that is the point of it: an hour, one subject, and a garden you can sit in afterwards. The free museums page covers the national collections, which work entirely differently.
Museum of the Home
- Address
- 136 Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA
- Nearest
- Hoxton, directly opposite
- Hours
- Museum and Gardens Through Time: Tuesday to Sunday and bank holidays, 10am to 5pm, closed Mondays. Kingsland Road Gardens: Monday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm
- Booking
- None needed. Questions on 020 7739 9893 or bookings@museumofthehome.org.uk
- Price
- Free
- Standing
- A free museum about the home, opposite Hoxton station, with gardens that open seven days a week
How to get in
Allow at least an hour. No eating or drinking in the galleries or Gardens Through Time, though there is a Lunch Room and you may picnic in the Kingsland Road Gardens. Step free access to all galleries. Unaccompanied children under 12 may be refused. The Kingsland Road Gardens close on published dates in the summer events season, when the entrance opposite Hoxton station is used instead.
Where to go next
Columbia Road Flower Market is seven minutes from the same station and runs on Sunday mornings, which makes the obvious pairing.
The free museums cover the national collections, and Shoreditch and Brick Lane cover the walk south.
Questions we get asked
Is the Museum of the Home free?
Yes, entry is free. It is a registered charity and a company, part funded by government and governed by trustees.
What are the Museum of the Home opening times?
The museum and Gardens Through Time open Tuesday to Sunday and on bank holidays, 10am to 5pm, and close on Mondays. The Kingsland Road Gardens open Monday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, so they are available on the day the museum itself is shut.
Where is the Museum of the Home?
At 136 Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA, directly opposite Hoxton station on the Overground. Columbia Road Flower Market is about seven minutes' walk from the same station.
How long do you need at the Museum of the Home?
The museum recommends allowing at least an hour, and says its rooms, exhibits and gardens change through the year.
Can you eat at the Museum of the Home?
Not in the galleries or in Gardens Through Time. There is a Lunch Room open to all visitors including families with young children, and you may picnic in the Kingsland Road Gardens as long as you take your rubbish with you.
Can children visit the Museum of the Home alone?
No. Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult at all times inside the museum and on its grounds, and the museum reserves the right to refuse admittance to any unaccompanied child under the age of 12.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 211 in the guide.
Last checked 5 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
