Natural History Museum

As you approach the Natural History Museum, take a moment to look closely at the walls. You are standing before one of the most significant examples of Victorian architecture in London, which is entirely faced with terracotta tiles. Architect Alfred Waterhouse chose this material because it was fireproof and resistant to the thick, soot-heavy pollution that plagued the city during the nineteenth century. The tiles serve a decorative purpose, as they are molded into hundreds of intricate relief carvings of plants and animals. If you look at the west wing of the building, you will see carvings of extinct species, while the east wing features only living ones.