Celebrating our 40th birthday
As the Museum celebrates its 40th anniversary, we take a look at the history of our collection and the iconic building the Museum is housed in – the Covent Garden Flower Market.
40 years
This year, London Transport Museum is celebrating 40 years in our Covent Garden location.
Thomas Tilling 'Knifeboard' type horse bus (1851) by Thomas TillingLondon Transport Museum
Our collection originates in the 1920s, when the London General Omnibus Company decided to preserve two Victorian horse buses and an early motorbus for future generations.
London General Omnibus Company 'garden seat' type horse bus (1881) by London General Omnibus CompanyLondon Transport Museum
B-type LGOC open top motor bus bonnet No B340 (1911) by London General Omnibus CompanyLondon Transport Museum
The London Transport Collection (1976) by William Fenton, London Transport, and W S Cowell LtdLondon Transport Museum
Over the years, the Museum has had a several homes: as part of the Museum of British Transport, housed in an old bus garage in Clapham during the 1960s...
The London Transport Collection (1974) by William Fenton, London Transport, and W S Cowell LtdLondon Transport Museum
...and at Syon Park in west London in 1973 as the London Transport Collection.
Covent Garden
In 1980, the collection moved again, this time to our current Covent Garden location, opening as the London Transport Museum. It moved into the restored Flower Market building – a cast-iron and glass building reminiscent of Victorian railway station architecture.
Covent Garden; rhubarb and roses (1965) by John Griffiths, London Transport, and Curwen PressLondon Transport Museum
The history of the Flower Market
Our stunning building, was originally designed as a dedicated Flower Market by William Rogers of William Cubitt and Company in 1871-2.
Illustration of the Tavistock Street elevation of the Covent Garden Flower Market (1884)London Transport Museum
Markets were established in Covent Garden by the Earl of Bedford in 1670 selling ‘fruits, flowers, roots and herbs’.
The Flower Market at Covent GardenLondon Transport Museum
In the 1830s, permanent buildings replaced the traders’ stalls in the central square. As the market expanded, additional buildings for specialist trading grew up around the piazza.
Flower Market interior, in useLondon Transport Museum
The Covent Garden Flower Market opened in 1872, and for the next hundred years, this was the heart of London’s wholesale flower business, famously trading every day except Christmas.
Flower Market interior, in use (1970-1980)London Transport Museum
By the 19th century, Covent Garden had become London’s principal vegetable, fruit and flower market.
Traders in the Flower market at Covent Garden (1970-1980) by David ThomasLondon Transport Museum
Flower Market interior by David ThomasLondon Transport Museum
Shoppers at a stall in Coven Garden Market (1991) by Hugh RobertsonLondon Transport Museum
London characters; the flower woman (1920) by Elijah Albert Cox and Underground Electric Railway Company LtdLondon Transport Museum
Flower girls, as depicted on this poster, were a common sight in London, particularly in the streets around the Flower Market at Covent Garden.
Casual labourers at Covent Garden market (1876-1877) by John ThomsonLondon Transport Museum
There were also a hundreds of casual labourers who worked around the Flower Market to transport, distribute and grow the stock that was sold every day.
Interior shot of Covent Garden Flower Market when empty (circa 1979) by H J Hare & SonLondon Transport Museum
In 1974, all the market businesses moved out to modern warehouses at Nine Elms in south London.
Interior shot of Covent Garden Flower Market when empty (1975-1980) by H J Hare & SonLondon Transport Museum
Covent Flower Market standing emptyLondon Transport Museum
After much debate about what should happen to the old market buildings in Covent Garden, they were restored and the Flower Market reopened as the home of London Transport Museum in March 1980.
Reopening
The newly-refurbished Flower Market, shown here in artist’s impressions from 1978, was over three times the size of the old Syon Park site. It was intended to transform the collection into a ‘proper’ museum, one that actively cared for its collection, promoted public transport as a theme and actively encouraged schools to visit.
Artist's impression of the London Transport Collection in Covent Garden Flower Market (circa 1978) by Bob MillerLondon Transport Museum
Entry of Loco 23 into covered way (1979) by Edna LumbLondon Transport Museum
Vehicles were painstakingly moved into the building on temporary rails for display in the new Museum, as depicted in these watercolour paintings by artist in residence Edna Lumb.
Positioning of the Feltham Tram by Edna LumbLondon Transport Museum
Photograph of Edna Lumb wearing a hard hat, painting the building work and installation of exhibits for the London Transport Museum (1979-1980) by Jennifer BeestonLondon Transport Museum
Artist Edna Lumb at work in the Museum.
Entrance to London Transport Museum, pre 2000 (Between 1980-2000)London Transport Museum
The Museum was seen as a ‘place builder’ for Covent Garden when it opened in March 1980. It opened four months before the rest of the piazza opened as a shopping centre.
Princess Anne at the opening of London Transport Museum (1980-03-28) by Paul ProctorLondon Transport Museum
The Museum was officially opened on 28 March 1980 by Her Royal Highness, Princess Anne.
Princess Anne in the C&SLR carriage (1980-03-28) by Chorley HandfordLondon Transport Museum
Plaque commemorating the opening of the London Transport Museum (1980-03-28)London Transport Museum
