V and A Museum is a gem

In the part of London known as Kensington two of the world's great Museums, the national History museum and Science Museum are visited by millions annually. Close by sits another less well known but nonetheless wornderful museum known as the Victoria and Albert Museum. Like its neighbours it is a nineteenth Century building from the days when Britain had wealth and power.

Inside you will find some amazing artifacts covering a wealth of topics from the fields of art and design.

There are so many wonders in this place it feels silly to try to list them all, so I will simply tell you about just one of them.

The Cast Collection is housed in a couple of cavernous high ceilinged rooms. Within them the great sculptural treasures of europe are on display thanks to the foresight of Prince Albert and his contemporaries. The rulers of europe all made plaster casts of their richest most fabulous large antiquites and passed copies to each other so that all the great museums could display great treasures.

As a result you can come to Kensington and see perfect reproductions of the Portico de la Gloria, the 12th-century façade of the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela, standing next to Michelangelos David, and across the room from Trajan's column the original of which stands in Rome. This amazing room packed full of wonders gives visitors a unique insight into Victorian tastes and also enthralls children who see it as an Indiana Jones style treasure room.

Plaster reliefs from Florence, busts from Venice and some astounding church architecture from Germany are crammed together in close proximity rahter than being given lots of space, increasing the sense that you are walking into a hidden storeroom rather than a museum space. I love the Victoria and Albert Museum and urge you to come and see why.