Museum of Brands
Over 12,000 items of packaging, advertising and design charting 200 years of consumer culture — tucked inside a former Notting Hill hospice
Over 12,000 items of packaging, advertising and design charting 200 years of consumer culture — tucked inside a former Notting Hill hospice
Robert Opie started collecting packaging at the age of 16, when he kept a Munchies wrapper in 1963. Six decades later, his collection has grown to over 500,000 items, with 12,000 on permanent display inside a converted hospice building on Lancaster Road.
Visitors walk through the Time Tunnel, a winding chronological corridor that traces British consumer life from the Victorian era to the present day. Wartime rations sit alongside 1960s pop culture, early Cadbury wrappers next to millennium-era dot-com branding. Temporary exhibitions explore themes from sustainable packaging to the evolution of advertising.
The Museum of Brands occupies the former London Lighthouse building at 111–117 Lancaster Road in Notting Hill. The Lighthouse operated from 1986 to 2015 as a pioneering residential and support centre for people affected by HIV/AIDS, and its conversion into a museum preserved the building while giving it a new public purpose. The museum moved here in September 2015 from its original, smaller premises in nearby Colville Mews, where it had operated since 2005.
The collection itself predates both locations. Consumer historian Robert Opie began gathering packaging and advertising ephemera in 1963 and opened his first public exhibition — the Museum of Advertising and Packaging — in Gloucester's Albert Warehouse in 1984. That museum closed in 2001, and Opie relocated the collection to London four years later. The charity behind the museum was registered in 2002, and today the archive holds over 500,000 original items spanning two centuries of British consumer culture.
The centrepiece is the Time Tunnel, a winding corridor that takes visitors chronologically from the Victorian era to the present day. Early patent medicine bottles and Pears soap advertisements give way to Art Deco tins, wartime ration books, Festival of Britain memorabilia and 1960s pop culture ephemera. The 1970s and 1980s sections are particularly rich, with original packaging from brands that have since disappeared alongside those still on supermarket shelves today.
Beyond the permanent collection, a temporary exhibition space hosts rotating shows that connect the archive to contemporary issues — past themes have included sustainable packaging, diversity in advertising and the visual culture of protest. The museum also holds a small reference library and runs regular talks, workshops and evening events exploring design, branding and social history.
The museum sits at the northern end of Notting Hill, a three-minute walk from Ladbroke Grove Tube station and five minutes from the top of Portobello Road. On Saturdays, the famous Portobello Road Market stretches south from here, making it easy to combine both in a single morning.
For a longer visit to the area, walk south along Portobello Road to reach Westbourne Grove's restaurants and independent shops. Kensington Gardens and the Serpentine Gallery are a twenty-minute walk southeast, or take the Tube one stop from Ladbroke Grove to Westbourne Park for the canalside cafes along the Regent's Canal towpath.
Children under 7 enter free — annual passes are available allowing unlimited visits for 12 months
The museum is compact and the Time Tunnel corridor can feel crowded at weekends. Weekday mornings are the quietest time to browse the collection at your own pace.
On Saturdays, Portobello Road Market is a five-minute walk south. Visit the museum first thing at 10am then head to the market before it gets busy around midday.
The rotating exhibition space hosts shows on branding, design and social history. Check the website before your visit to see what is currently showing.
The museum has a small garden area and cafe. On warm days it is a pleasant spot to sit after walking through the Time Tunnel before heading to nearby Portobello Road.
Annual passes allow unlimited return visits for 12 months. Worth it if you live in London or plan to see the temporary exhibitions, which change several times a year.
London Travel Writer · 12+ years covering UK attractions and tourism
Last reviewed: March 9, 2026
