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London is a city filled with immense history, oftentimes dark & strange. From dungeons to Jack the Ripper, London’s dark side is part of the charm for many. Relative newcomers to the list of London oddities are The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & UnNatural History and The Last Tuesday Society & Absinthe Parlour, a museum & a cocktail bar that are exactly what their names say.
The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & UnNatural History
It’s both easy and difficult to describe The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & UnNatural History, but the sign in the entryway is a good start.
The sign reads: “A warm embrace to strangers and the strange, join us, enter our world & forget about Babylon. Turn around and go home if you don’t worship & adore.”
It goes on to list just some of the strange items that can be found inside this London museum of oddities, including “Fairy tales, dead animals, dead people, broken children’s toys, erotica, the world’s largest crab, entomology, monsters, surrealism, the occult, conchology, divination, lucky charms, dead people’s hair art, preserved front bottoms, ex-votos, bezoars, mermen, voodoo fetishes, sex, Congolese masks, dolls, spirit baskets, New Guinea, Santa Muerte, Austin Osman Spare, Mr. Wynds Bottom, taxidermy, animal & celebrity poo, magick wee, dead things in bottles, spirit drawings, real fairies, freaks, creatures of the night, make believe, dead dandies, enormous eggs, relics of extinct birds, mermaids, osteology, skulls, shrunken heads, dead babies, poetry, and romance.”
That should give you some sense of what’s inside. As the sign says, if you’re not cool with it all, this is your last chance to bail on experiencing the weirdest museum in London.
The curiosity museum is simultaneously exactly what you’d expect and nothing that you’d expect. For an in-depth exploration of the museum, head to their website & download their guide.
Go down the spiral metal staircase from the ground-level cocktail bar & you are immediately enveloped by displays filled with all sorts of eccentricities, including taxidermy, erotica, and the occult.
Skulls, taxidermied animals, and other specimens can be found throughout. It’s both macabre & sexual in some parts, with a strong influence from penile & scatological humour.
As a fan of “What We Do In The Shadows,” the overall vibe reminded me strongly of the show.
Given how many items are packed into the display cases, you could spend a ton of time staring at every little thing. There is a sign limiting time to 30 minutes. However, I don’t know how strictly this is enforced, likely much more on a crowded evening.
You can visit the Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & UnNatural History before or after having cocktails at The Last Tuesday Society & Absinthe Parlour. Personally, I thought it was nice to have had a couple of drinks beforehand to help get in the right mood before wandering through the museum. Admission was £6 after having been to the bar first.
The Last Tuesday Society & Absinthe Parlour
The Last Tuesday Society & Absinthe Parlour is the cocktail bar on the ground floor of The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & UnNatural History. Reservations are encouraged.
Not only is it the only Absinthe cocktail bar in London, but it’s also the weirdest bar in London.
The space is decorated with some exhibits that show what the museum is like below, including weird art & animal specimens. There’s also a fish tank. It’s like drinking in the Museum of Zoology.
There is an eclectic soundtrack of rock, metal, & funkier stuff with a garage sort of feel. Be sure to visit the back room & the restrooms as well, as there are interesting things to spot throughout.
The Absinthe found in the bar is from the affiliated Devil’s Botany, which is London’s first Absinthe distillery. The bar offers Absinthe cocktails or Absinthe tasting in several ways, including via the traditional method of drinking it with water & sugar cubes. Other cocktails are available as well.
I opted for one of their signature drinks, the chocolate Absinthe Sazerac, since I love a good sazerac.
I followed this with Look at the Witches. It was made with chocolate Absinthe, Cynar, Borghetti espresso liqueur, Roasting Shed coffee, sea salt, and cherry bitters. It was a smooth cocktail, and I enjoyed the cherry addition to it.
The combination of The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & UnNatural History and The Last Tuesday Society & Absinthe Parlour makes for one of the most unique things to do in London, especially if everything mentioned above is your sort of thing.
Address: 11 Mare St, Cambridge Heath Rd, London E8 4RP, United Kingdom (map)
Nearest station: Cambridge Heath
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