The Horniman Museum is based in 16 acres of gardens which offer sweeping views across the city
The Horniman Museum and Gardens is based out of the centre of London in Forest Hill. Chief executive Nick Merriman said: "Our visitors are mostly local.
“About 70% come from local boroughs or Kent and Surrey and we have huge numbers of repeat visitors.”
The museum is getting up to 35% of normal visitor numbers, but Mr Merriman said it had reached maximum capacity “several times”.
Horniman Museum’s gardens remained open throughout lockdown
The Horniman receives most of its income from the government and Arts Council England, which Mr Merriman believes has been an advantage.
Yet he thinks the pandemic will bring lasting changes for the museum sector with focus shifting to providing “a good experience to a wider range of people”, not just chasing visitor numbers.
“We can’t pretend things will go back to what they were. The model for constant growth is not possible and has been exposed for being fragile and unsupportable,” he said.
