Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms

Shortly after becoming Prime Minister in May 1940, Winston Churchill visited the Cabinet War Rooms to see for himself what preparations had been made to allow him and his War Cabinet to continue working throughout the expected air raids on London. It was there, in the underground Cabinet Room, he announced 'This is the room from which I will direct the war'.

The Cabinet War Rooms house the first national museum dedicated to Winston Churchill. Using cutting edge technology and a mixture of media displays, the undeniably exciting story of this historical figure is brought to life. Visitors can explore the complex nature of his life, long political career and also investigate the private man, his successes and failures.


The Cabinet War Rooms consist of:

The Map Room
The Map Room came into use on the very first day that the Cabinet War Rooms were ready for occupation and remained the heart of the site throughout the war. The room was staffed twenty-four hours of every day, from August 1939 to August 1945. The principal function of the Map Room was to act as a round the clock central point for information about the war.

The War Cabinet Room
This was the inner sanctum of British Government, the room used for meetings of the Prime Minister, a select few ministers and advisers of his War Cabinet and his Chiefs of Staff. 115 meetings of the War Cabinet took place and momentous decisions were taken in this room. The scratched arms of the seat in which Churchill sat bear witness to the tensions of those crucial meetings at critical moments of the war.

Churchill's Room
Although his room in the Cabinet War Rooms boasted comforts of a higher standard than anywhere else in the complex, Winston Churchill preferred not to sleep there. He used his room at the Cabinet War Rooms for visits to the Map Room and for business, when forced to meet underground. He also delivered four of this wartime speeches from here, including his 11 September 1940 speech, warning of Hitler's plans to wage a war of terror against the United Kingdom.

The Transatlantic Telephone Room
The Transatlantic Telephone Room, to which a huge scrambler 'Sigsaly' was connected, created the original hot-line for allowing Churchill and the American President to conduct their vital strategic discussions in complete security. Like all the rooms in the complex, this originally had a more humble purpose - it was once a store for brooms and domestic equipment. It was adapted in mid-1943 to house this particularly secret installation.

The Churchill Museum
The Churchill Museum is divided into five chapters, spanning all ninety years of Churchill's life. To allow an easy transition from the historical context of the Cabinet War Rooms, the story begins on 10 May 1940 with Churchill's appointment as Prime Minister. The visitor can then explore his later years, his childhood, his early political career and finally the period known most famously as the 'Gathering Storm'.

Most notable among the exhibits is the Lifeline, a fifteen metre-long interactive table, which dominates the Churchill Museum space. By using a simple touch-strip, visitors can access information from a computerised ‘filing cabinet’ of Churchill’s life, divided into years, months, weeks and even days. The Lifeline also refers to major national and world events in order to give a sense of the times in which Churchill lived.

Opening Times

09:30 - 18:00 (last admission 17:00)
Open daily (except 24, 25 and 26 December)


How to Get There
Nearest tube station
Westminster (Jubilee, District or Circle Line)
or St James's Park (District and Circle Line)

Nearest train station
Charing Cross

Charing Cross – 10 mins walk or by bus (number 11 or 87)
Victoria – 15 mins walk, District line to Westminster or bus number 11
Waterloo – 20 mins walk, Jubilee line to Westminster of bus number 211

By bus
3, 11, 12, 24, 53, 87, 88, 109, 148, 159, 184, 211

Walking and cycling
The Cabinet War Rooms are situated near the Thames Path, one of London's key strategic routes connecting more than a hundred attractions including more than 30 museums, a dozen parks and gardens, 21 historic monuments and 7 art galleries.

By boat
Westminster Pier is approximately 8 minutes walk from the Cabinet War Rooms. Regular boat tours of the River Thames operate on a daily basis.

Parking

There are no designated parking spaces for visitors to the Cabinet War Rooms. Parking in surrounding streets is metered from 9.30 to 6.30pm Monday to Friday.

Abingdon car park
Great College Street, SW1P 3RX
Phone: 020 7222 8621

Trafalgar car park
Spring Gardens, SW1A 2BN
Phone: 020 7930 1565 / 020 7930 6194

Please note: Metered parking begins at 8.30 am. The Cabinet War Rooms are situated within the London Congestion Charge zone. Driving within the zone will incur a daily charge of £8.00. The Congestion Charge applies Monday to Friday from 7.00 am to 6.30 pm excluding public holidays.