John Soane, born the son of a bricklayer in Goring-on-Thames, specialised in neoclassical architecture. His most influential building was the Bank of England, much of which was unfortunately rebuilt in later years - only the outer wall remains. If Wikipedia is to be believed, Nikolaus Pevsner named the re-building of his work as "the greatest architectural crime, in the City of London, of the twentieth century". He also designed the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Sir John was given his knighthood in 1831. He died in 1837, and was buried in a vault designed by himself, located in St Pancras Churchyard. This mausoleum inspired the design for Giles Gilbert Scott's red telephone box (the K6) - have a look at the dome at the top of the vault.

The Museum

This is a truly remarkable place in Lincoln's Inn Fields, a treasure trove of artefacts collected by Soane, and remarkable for the number of objects he was able to cram into this relatively small, labyrinthine house.

Museum drawings, an egyptian sarcophagus of Seti I, medieval, renaissance and oriental art, classical busts, statues and assorted works of art litter the rooms. There's a gothic library, Pompeii red walls, a crypt room and a picture room. The paintings include Hogarth's The Rake's Progress, Turners and Canalettos. There's a monk's parlour in the basement - designed for a fictional monk. In the monk's yard there's a gravestone engraved with the words "Alas, poor Fanny" - the name of his wife's dog, whose bones are interred beneath.

Visitors' Information

You can download a free podcast introduced by Stephen Fry and read by Tim Know, the director of the museum - it's an hour long, and I haven't tried it out yet, but intend to do so at the first opportunity. You'll find full details of opening times and directions on the Visitor Information page of the museum's official website. Although the museum's at 13 Lincoln Inn Fields, numbers 12 and 14 were bought by Sir John as well. Number 14 has been restored and will be opened to the public shortly - workshops and a model room will be accessible here.