TheCuming Museum inWalworth Road inElephant and Castle, within theLondon Borough of Southwark, London, England, was a museum housing the collection of the Cuming family and later collections on Southwark's history.[1] As of 2021, its collections have been rehoused in a new Southwark Heritage Centre.[2]
Richard Cuming (1777–1870) started his collecting life when he was only five years old, with some fossils and a coin that had been given to him by a family friend. That ignited a passion for collecting, which lasted for his lifetime. He made his first significant purchases in 1806 at the sale of theLeverian Museum. His interests covered geology, scientific equipment and animalia.[3] The collection was bequeathed to the people of Southwark by his son,Henry Syer Cuming, in 1902, and the museum opened in 1906.[4] As described in Cuming's will, it comprised "My Museum illustrative ofNatural History,Archaeology andEthnology with my coins and medals and... other curios".[5]
The museum galleries were moved from the first floor of the Newington Public Library to the building next door, the formerWalworth Town Hall, in 2006.[4] On 25 March 2013, that building was seriously damaged by fire, severely affecting the museum galleries but leading to only a very small loss from the collections. Around 98% of objects on display at the time of the fire were recovered and were placed in storage to await a solution to the display of the collections and public access to them.[6] The Cuming and local history collections have been re-displayed at the new Southwark Heritage Centre and Walworth Library, next door to the former town hall and library complex, which once housed the old Newington Library and Cuming Museum.[7]
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