The view from outside
For Alfred Waterhouse, the surrounding landscape of the Museum was just as important as the building itself. A fantastic array of gargoyles and statues guard the façade of the Museum and Waterhouse designed everything from the sweeping driveway and gate posts to the Plane trees that line Cromwell Road today.
Early visitors
So what did the Victorians think of the museum when the doors first opened on Easter Monday 1881? Did they think the 22 years of planning paid off?
Statues, gargoyles and reliefs
See how the images you can see on the façade today match Waterhouse’s original sketches