New £12.5million museum based on very famous children’s artist to be ‘world’s largest of its kind’

MOST childhoods for Brits were made up of reading books like The BFG, Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Next year, you’ll be able to experience some true nostalgia as a new museum showcasing the work of famed illustrators, like Sir Quentin Blake, will open in the UK.

Sir Quentin Blake is well-known for illustrating lots of Roald Dahl’s books, as well as his own like the Mrs Armitage series.

Work is currently underway to open a £12.5 million centre called Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration.

It will be the “world’s largest dedicated space for illustration”, and the new attraction will be in Clerkenwell on a former waterworks site.

The buildings were once part of a network that supplied water across the city and was used for 400 years.

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Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration will open in May 2026, and it’s an attraction that has been 20 years in the making.

On the project, Sir Quentin said: “I have long dreamt of a permanent place with ‘illustration’ above the door, and now the amazing reality is that we have it.

“I am proud to think the centre has my name on it – illustration is a wonderful universal and varied language.

“Here we shall celebrate its traditions and welcome the astonishing diversity of visual language from across the world. Hurrah!”

Once open, the museum will have exhibitions that will feature rarely-seen works from all over the world.

Original illustrations from leading and emerging illustrators, including work loaned from Quentin Blake’s own archive, will be on show.

Also on the site will be free spaces, including public gardens, displays and an illustration library.

You can take a seat at the café which will serve up fresh food and drinks, and there will be a shop stocked with illustration gifts.

There will be illustrator residencies in London‘s oldest surviving windmill which is also on the old waterworks site in Clerkenwell.

Other events at the museum will be illustration workshops and learning programs.

Previously, the House of Illustration was in Granary Square from 2014 to 2020.

Plus, here are the 20 most-visited attractions in England that are completely free to enter.

And for even more activities, check out the top 15 UK attractions for 2025.