The Horniman will be charging for admission to the Aquarium from 4 January.
Annual passes are £6 for adults, £15 for families.

See Horniman website for details

I felt a bit angry initially but then realistically, its probably the only way it can survive. My family go there at least weekly if not more and get a lot of pleasure out of it so a pass would be good value for us. Unfortunately things like this are not going to be free for much longer if at all. My question is however why the Horniman feels justified in continuing its major expenditure plans currently underway if it now has to start charging for the basics. On that point I remain bemused. I do hope these charges are not there to fund this work.

To be fair, I'm not sure I'd consider an aquarium a basic - if they started charging for the natural history or musical section I might feel differently but the aquarium must cost a fortune to run.

Love the aquarium.
£15 for a family for a year seems reasonable.

Please follow the link for the Aquarium which lists teh actual prices

http://www.horniman.ac.uk/exhibitions/cu...xhib_id=30

Please note Standard DAY admission for adults is £2, £1 (3 - 16 y/olds), Under 3's FREE, £5 Families (four people upto 2 adults).

This is extremely reasonable for DAY admission.

Yes I agree. A reasnoble fee in the circumstances.

Much as we like the aquarium, we've seen it before lots of times. I think I would think very carefully before shelling out to see it again. Sad times!

I will definitely pay £15 a year to visit the aquarium, even if we don't use it much. We are very very lucky to have such a great facility on our doorstep and if we need to support it through difficult times then we should do so.

These prices are much better value than their temporary exhibition, which can be a bit expensive for what they are.

I'm off to join up asap.....

Sign of the tough times but if it helps our fabulous museum, which I think we are very lucky to have on our doorstep, then I'm up happy to sign up. I LOVE the aquarium.

Entry to the aquarium for less than a cup of coffee or an ice cream seems good value. The annual ticket seems an excellent way for local people (especially families) to show their support for the museum which is such an asset to the local area.

If the money is going to support the new education centre, new animal enclosure, and revamped gardens, then I will be very pleased to know that the Horniman are using my money to make my family's experience at the museum even better in the future.

There is also a small note on the website stating that there will be:
Free entry on the first Tuesday of every month from 4–5.30pm
That is a bit of a limited amount of time but for those that can't/won't pay but want to go, you just need to rearrange your life to fit with this 30 minute window every month!

£6 per annum or £15 for adults, bargain!

I totally understand the reasons why Hornimans has to make these charges if it means they can maintain the standards we've been used to in recent years.

Harrumph, I am not impressed. It was always called the Horniman FREE Museum, but the 'free' bit seems to have been quietly dropped.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1253454


Whilst like Roz i was initially indigant but on reflection think it is probably reasonable, it is a bit concerning that the Horniman have crossed the line and are charging for permanent parts of the museum (as opposed to the temporary exhibitions).

Old Mr Horniman did bequeath his collection to the nation on condition that it remain free.

I wonder what part of the museum they will start charging for next?

Point taken thenutfield but I'd rather it was a surviving museum that charges some small fees than a closed free one.

15 quid probably works out less than the amount of money we put in the donations boxes each year anyway.

All the main exhibits which we've all seen time and time again will still be free which keeps with the spirit of Mr Horniman's wish.

I hope when we eventually return to better financial times (and funding for musuems) that the Aquarium will return to being free.

whilst i can understand those who say this is reasonable i must say that i find this very very sad and hope that the horniman reverts to a fully free museum for its permanent exhibits in the future, although i suspect this is a forlorn wish
a sad day

I'm assuming everyone here has heard that the Horniman has lost it's government funding from 2015? This blog from Brockley is the most succinct:

http://brockleycentral.blogspot.com/2010...nding.html

I had always been led to believe that Horniman's got its money from an old trust set up by the founder. Surely that is one reason why Horniman's were always free even when others charged.

I would anyway have no objection to this small charge for the aquarium

http://www.horniman.ac.uk/images/new_upl...t_2010.pdf

Have a look at the financial statement - the income from the trust has been hit from £50k to £6k as a result of the financial climate. The grant aid from the Dept Culture Media and Sport is £4.6m.

Regards,
Les.[/u]