Museum blog

Looking back at nearly two years of strict (but necessary) measures of quarantine, lockdown and other medical regulations, we will come to find that, for an island who deals in trade with other countries, plague is not a new thing. Though COVID-19 is the latest pandemic in a long history of medical challenges, we have plenty of historic experience in dealing with these types of disasters. From the Great Plague to parliamentary acts, we take a look through our collection to explore the practice of quarantine.

Natasha Lambert is the first person to skipper a boat across the Atlantic using ‘sip-and-puff’ technology. At the National Maritime Museum we are honoured to welcome her helmet and gloves into our collection, and be able to share Natasha’s story.

Discover what to see in the night sky in December 2021, including the Geminids meteor shower and the winter constellation of Orion the Hunter.

Find out more about Sir James Caird, the National Maritime Museum's founding benefactor.

Paintings conservation can often feel like detective work, analysing tiny flecks of paint to uncover the artist's tools and techniques. But what has our team learned during the conservation of A Royal Visit to the Fleet?

A slave plantation manager's letters home reveal attitudes towards enslavement and emancipation.

Discover what to see in the night sky in November 2021, including the Pleiades star cluster and the Leonid meteor shower.