Museums · East of England
Britain's wartime heritage
WWII airfields, bunkers, museums and Cold War sites.
Britain's 20th-century military heritage is unusually well-preserved. Duxford (Imperial War Museum aviation), the Bletchley Park codebreaking site, the Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall, the WWII coastal defences along the south coast, the Cold War bunkers (Kelvedon Hatch, Hack Green) — together they tell the story of two world wars and the nuclear standoff that followed. This guide picks the most important sites.
Places in this guide
★ Iconic📷 10Museums · London
Sir John Soane's Museum
The architect's own preserved house — Hogarth, the Sarcophagus of Seti I, kept since 1833.
★ Iconic📷 10Museums · London
The Royal Mews
Buckingham Palace's working royal stables — home of the Gold State Coach (1762).
📷 3Museums · Scottish Highlands
Balmoral Castle
Balmoral Castle — estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK.
Flagship📷 3Museums · North West England
People's History Museum
Manchester's national museum of democracy — political banners, suffragette and Chartist heritage.
📷 10Museums · London
Kenwood House
Kenwood House — art museum and historic house in Hampstead, London.
📷 3Museums · Scottish Highlands
Highland Folk Museum
Highland Folk Museum — open-air museum in Highland, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Flagship📷 10Museums · London
Young V&A
V&A's children's museum in Bethnal Green — reopened 2023, free entry.
Flagship📷 10Museums · London
Museum of London
London's history from prehistory to present — relocating to Smithfield in 2026.
📷 5Museums · London
Coldrum Long Barrow
Coldrum Long Barrow — neolithic chambered long barrow near Trottiscliffe, Kent, England, UK.
📷 5Museums · London
Passmore Edwards Museum
Passmore Edwards Museum — former museum in Stratford, East London.