Unlocked: South Kensington Walking Tour (30 June)

One-day course

+44 (0)20 7942 2000
Sold out

This walking tour starts off-site and will explore the neighbourhood of the V&A, its buildings, and their history before heading to V&A South Kensington. The V&A famously traces its origins to the 1851 Great Exhibition held in Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace. This walk will reveal the transformation of South Kensington from the semi-rural court suburb around Kensington Palace into the grandeur of late Victorian Albertopolis, named in honour of Prince Albert, envisaged as a centre of culture and learning…

V&A Academy Unlocked days invite you behind the scenes, bringing you face-to-face with the V&A's extraordinary collections.


  • Join us on this walking tour that starts off-site to explore the socio-history of the South Kensington area between 1851 to today led by V&A Academy Course Director Mike Berlin

  • Discover the V&A’s architecture and its innovative design on a private tour led by Mike Berlin

  • Enjoy a private gallery tour of the British Galleries to learn about the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the V&A’s origins

This Unlocked Study Day is designed to complement the course ‘London: A Proud City 1851- 2000' led by Mike Berlin but you do not need to be enrolled on any online course to join an 'Unlocked' event.

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Portrait of V&A Academy Course Director Mike Berlin

V&A Academy Course Director
Mike Berlin

Mike Berlin is a Lecturer at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is a specialist in the social history of early modern London and has published extensively on the history of London’s guilds. Before joining Birkbeck, he was a research officer at the Centre for Metropolitan History, Institute of Historical Research.

I loved it all! An excellent walk with so much interesting information Previous Unlocked event attendee

Course overview

To see the full programme for this study day, click 'download programme' below.

This Study Day is linked to Mike Berlin's 12-week summer term art history course 'London: A Proud City 1851-2000'. If you wish to join the online course, please book by mid April 2023. The online course live sessions will be Wednesdays, 19 April - 5 July 2023 and you can watch lecture recordings on demand, available at the end of each day, until Wednesday 27 September 2023.

Please sign up to our dedicated V&A Academy newsletter to be first to hear about our new summer Academy courses, workshops and events.

Should you have any questions about this V&A Academy Unlocked event, please email courses@vam.ac.uk

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V&A Academy. A learning environment you can trust.

V&A Academy online courses let you tune in to expert lectures live, or catch up on demand; our in-person Unlocked Study Days invite you to delve deeper into course themes, explore the collection and let you design your own hybrid learning experience.

Enrol now

One-day course: Unlocked: South Kensington Walking Tour (30 June)

30 June 2023

£60.00

Sold out

Need help enrolling? Talk to the admissions team:

+44 (0)20 7942 2000

Open 10.00 - 13.00, Monday to Sunday (closed 24-26 December)