museum
Alexander McKenzie, 1869
Manor House Lodge, Seven Sisters Road, N4 2DE
Occupying a former park keepers lodge built in 1869, our museum has been created from scratch by people with experience of homelessness. We share our collection, museum and beautiful community garden through intimate tours. Our previous work has won many awards, including Temporary Exhibition of the Year (2022, Museum and Heritage Awards).
Finsbury Park, Manor House
Finsbury Park
253, 254, 259
The nearest Tube Station is Manor House (via Exit 6) and the nearest step-free Tube Station is Finsbury Park.
The ground floor is accessible to wheelchair users. The first floor, including the archive room, is unfortunately only accessible by stairs.
Some segments contain flashing lights and loud music/sounds, and may not be suitable for those with phonic or photosensitivity.
12:30–16:30
The day will include historical tours of the lodge and grounds, special access to our archive room and stories from our collection!
This is the world’s FIRST Museum of Homelessness (MoH). In October 2024 we opened the only bricks and mortar site in North London that has been set up and is run by people with experience of homelessness for people with experience of homelessness, at Manor House Lodge.
Our thriving site is a park keepers lodge set in grounds, inside Finsbury Park. Since being granted a 10 year community lease by Haringey Council, MoH has transformed the building into a thriving community hub. Once derelict, the site now has a dedicated collection sharing space, the Wallich-Clifford Archive room, a community kitchen, two sensory/quiet rooms and a beautiful community garden.
Finsbury Park opened in 1869, with the Lodge being constructed the same year to house the park-keeper. Over the years, the building itself has been used by various community groups, including the Friends of Finsbury Park.
Museum of Homelessness was founded in 2015 and is created and run by people with direct experience of homelessness.
Museum of Homelessness, led by our community, does four things:
- We make tomorrow’s history by building the national collection for homelessness
- We take direct practical action in support of the community
- We fight injustice with our independent research and campaigning
- We educate on homelessness by working with artists and creatives to make unforgettable art, exhibitions and events.
After being setup in 2015, our first public launch was at Tate Modern in 2017. Since then MoH has worked in Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and London. We have created and produced unforgettable artistic work. We have campaigned for the rights of people who are homeless.
Museum of Homelessness is the answer you get when you ask people experiencing homelessness what a museum should be. On our new site in Finsbury Park, we run drop in art sessions, gardening, community meals, sexual health drop ins, archiving, grief & death spaces, campaigns, recovery group for street homeless people and educational storytelling.
“The Museum of Homelessness is remarkable because it offers individuals facing profound social exclusion access to practical support and a positive lived experience community – both people and a physical space – in a setting that celebrates creativity and activism.”
- Homelessness Research Programme, National Institute for Health Research Policy Unit, King's College London
“Since I started coming here, I feel alive again. I just have a different energy when I am here.”
- Community member (person seeking asylum)
Other
The George Padmore Institute is located on Stroud Green Road, Finsbury Park, in a Victorian terrace property which also houses New Beacon Books. Co- founded in 1991 by John La Rose and Sarah White, we are an archive and educational hub home to materials on the lives of black communities in post-war Britain. We invite the public to explore our history and handle some of our archival material.
