The Wellcome Collection: London’s Most Curious Museum

The Wellcome Collection sits pretty much directly opposite Euston Station. So thousands of people rush past it every day and may not realise what’s inside.

​Which is a shame really, because this is one of London’s most fascinating free museums – part gallery, part library, part cabinet of curiosities with some excellent temporary exhibitions.

Founded on the vast personal collection of Sir Henry Wellcome, the museum opened in 2007 and explores health, medicine, science and what it means to be human.

Wellcome himself was an American-born pharmaceutical entrepreneur who moved to Britain in the late 19th century, becoming a British citizen in 1910. He was hugely successful in Britain, knighted in 1932 and later established the Wellcome Trust, now one of the country’s major funders of medical and health research, including vaccine development.

He lived on the north side of Regent’s Park – you can find a Blue Plaque at 6 Gloucester Gate to commemorate him. Wellcome’s ashes are buried at St Paul’s Cathedral. 

Alongside developing his business empire, Wellcome obsessively collected art and artefacts from all over the world.  In the early 20th century he founded a private historical medical museum.

​Over his lifetime, he amassed more than 1 million objects relating to health, healing and the body. Much of the collection is managed by the Science Museum in London. The Wellcome Collection kept a diverse array of items including paintings, drawings, surgical tools, photographs, public health posters, old medicine bottles, films, rare books, strange medical devices and enough peculiar curiosities to keep you wandering around for hours. You might encounter a beautifully detailed anatomical drawing or a leather doctor’s bag full of mysterious Victorian tonics.

Only a fraction of the collection is actually on public display, but that almost adds to the intrigue. It still feels brilliantly eclectic, though in recent years the museum has moved far beyond its founder’s original “look at this weird thing” approach. The Wellcome Collection now mixes historical artefacts with contemporary art and thoughtful exhibitions about everything from mental health and disease to climate anxiety, ageing and mortality.

In other words: it’s not dusty or dry. Or remotely like a traditional medical museum.
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There’s also an excellent Reading Room – somewhere between a library, gallery and place of calm away from Euston Road outside. Plus regular talks, events and exhibitions that are often among the most interesting in London. And importantly, it’s completely free to visit.

The current exhibition, 'Coming of Age', is especially worth seeing. It asks where our attitudes to getting older actually come from. And examines at a range of ideas around our obsession with youth, why some fear ageing and who gets to ‘age well’.

​There are hundreds of fascinating objects on display – from Charles Darwin’s walking stick, to 19th century anti-ageing pills and historical engravings of people who supposedly reached the ages of 172.  There is also work by over 30 contemporary artists, including Paula Rego, Sam Taylor-Johnson and Daphne Wright. Some of the items and artworks are funny, some moving and many surprising.

There are references to today’s modern longevity industry, including tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson and his famously extreme anti-ageing regime involving countless supplements, fastidious sleep schedules and  the $2 million he spends a year trying not to die.
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Finnish artist Maija Tammi’s mesmerising film examines hydras – tiny freshwater organisms with extraordinary regenerative abilities. In the mid-1750s, hydra became a curiosity at European upper-class gatherings, kept as pets and displayed to guests as a living demonstration of regeneration.

Elsewhere artist Suzanne Lacy’s Uncertain Futures explores the experiences of women over 50 in Manchester, particularly around unpaid care, work and financial insecurity. It’s a reminder that whether people “age well” often depends less on green juice and skincare routines than on class, health inequalities, housing, work and access to care.
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And then there are moments of unexpected joy. Japanese photographer Kimiko Nishimoto only took up photography in her seventies, later becoming an Instagram sensation (and ‘Instagran’) with bizarre and witty self-portraits. By the time she died aged 98 in 2025 she had amassed over 400,000 followers and was known as Japan’s ‘selfie grandma’.

The exhibition prompts us to think about why ageing is so feared, so commercialised and so unevenly experienced. You may leave thinking about your own body, your grandparents, Instagram wellness culture, healthcare systems, cosmetic surgery and the tiny hydra’s remarkable ability to adapt and stay alive.

Which is quite a lot for a free museum opposite Euston station.

Things to know
'Coming of Age' is on until 29 November 2026. Entry is free.
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The Wellcome Collection’s Galleries, Reading Room and Library are all free to visit.

The website also has a huge amount of resources and information so is well worth a browse.

Other places of interest near the Wellcome Collection: The British Library, the Petrie Museum, the Foundling Museum, the Francis Crick Institute, Regent’s Park.