Hintze Hall
Walk beneath the largest animal on Earth and explore dozens of other exhibits representing 4.5 billion years of natural history.
Hintze Hall is the gateway to our collections and galleries.
Inside it, you can wander among meteorites, mammals, fish, birds, minerals, plants and insects, and hear stories about the people whose work and ideas have shaped the Museum.
'Like the blue whale, these beautiful and intricate objects from nature are like wonderful works of art that showcase the incredible uniqueness and diversity of our natural world.' - Lorraine Cornish, Head of Conservation
Star specimens and exhibits
- a 25-metre blue whale skeleton, suspended in the air
- an American mastodon, the elephant’s Ice Age relative
- seaweeds, crucial to marine food chains and habitats, in an intricate underwater-forest arrangement
- a rock as old as the solar system
- an Atlantic blue marlin
- a 122-129-million-year-old Mantellisaurus, one of the most complete dinosaur fossils ever discovered in the UK
- a 120-year-old, 300-kilogramme Turbinaria coral
- fossil trees spanning hundreds of millions of years of the planet's history
- a 2.5-tonne banded iron formation recording the birth of life on Earth
Let Sir David Attenborough guide you around the displays.
Get the full experience
Explore the Museum's highlights, find out what's on, and where to rest and recharge.
Audio descriptions
Experience the blue whale
Can't make it to the Museum? Explore the whale's rich history in the interactive online experience.
Hintze Hall's hidden masterpiece
Discover the ceiling of Hintze Hall with an interactive gigapixel photo, in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture.
The whale story: watch the series
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OCEANS17 November 2015Go behind the scenes as the first bones are taken down from the blue whale skeleton.
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OCEANS19 April 2016Watch as our blue whale is moved into storage and the conservators start their work.
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OCEANS21 June 2017Trace the 126-year journey of the blue whale from the sea to Museum.
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OCEANS13 July 2017Join Museum scientists as they reflect on becoming part of this specimen's giant story.
Discover Hintze Hall's exhibits
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NEWS
The blue whale: a cetacean relation
21 March 2018
The Museum's blue whale died 120 years ago, but the legend of its dramatic demise lives on in the minds of one family.
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DINOSAURS
1 December 2017
Cleaning Dippy the dinosaur takes more than a quick flick with a duster. Exhibition specialist Helen Walker talks us through it.
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OCEANS
Highlighting coral reefs at risk
1 December 2017
What can antique corals reveal about the impact of climate change on the ocean?
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OCEANS
3 August 2017
Find out how Museum scientists used a new technique to preserve this enormous blue marlin forever.
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COLLECTIONS
The heavy metal rock bands charting life on early Earth
26 July 2017
The touchable, wavy folds of this rock tell a story as old as life on Earth.
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OCEANS
Seaweeds: a hidden habitat under threat
13 July 2017
Algae grew on Earth long before the dinosaurs first appeared - but climate change could bring an end to their long tenure.
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OCEANS
The blue whale: a three-year labour of love
13 July 2017
Join Museum scientists as they reflect on becoming part of this specimen's giant story.
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NEWS
Museum unveils 'Hope' the blue whale skeleton
13 July 2017
Today, the Natural History Museum unveils the new star of its reimagined Hintze Hall, which begins the biggest transformation in its 136-year history.