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Pollock’s Toy Museum Forced To Relocate Its Collection

An attraction that claims to be London’s oldest toy museum is looking for a new home after it was forced to close.

Fitzrovia’s Pollock’s Toy Museum announced on Wednesday that it had to relocate its collection due to “a change in circumstances regarding the ownership of the buildings”.

Owner Jack Fawdry-Tatham assured that the museum would remain active on social media during this transition period, when it will feature toys, articles and projects from its archive.

READ MORE: Where to celebrate Lunar New Year in north and east London The museum exhibits a range of antique toy theatres, teddy bears, dolls, games and toys dating from the 18th and 19th centuries.

It was founded by Marguerite Tawdry, Jack’s great-grandmother, who bought the entire stock from a toy theatre shop that could trace its beginnings back to the East End in the 1800s.

Her purchase contained the original metal printing plates designed by the inventor of the toy theatre John Kilby Green, which are still part of the collection today.

Pollock’s Theatrical Print Warehouse (Image: Google)

Initially situated in Covent Garden, the museum had to be relocated to its current Scala Street address in Fitzrovia in 1969 due to gentrification.

In March 2021, the museum raised £41,568 from 812 donors in order to reopen a freshly modernised venue with a new online ticketing service following the pandemic.

Unfortunately, the efforts to draw in more visitors were not enough to keep the gallery open in its iconic Georgian building.