Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration: what to see, and when

The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration opened on 5 June 2026 in a restored waterworks at New River Head in Clerkenwell. It describes itself as the UK’s new public space for illustration, and it is the largest space in the world given over to the subject.

Illustration is not a category London had a home for, which is the point of it.

What is inside

Checked on the museum’s own site on 9 September 2026. Three galleries in the former waterworks buildings, showing regularly changing exhibitions across the whole range of illustration rather than only children’s books. Alongside them: the UK’s only illustration library, public artworks, newly planted gardens, and illustration activities aimed at all ages rather than only at children.

Quentin Blake unveiled a new mural ahead of the opening, which is worth finding while you are there.

When it is open, and what it costs

Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, which is the thing to check before travelling and the mistake most easily made.

The model is mixed rather than free or paid: there are free spaces and there are ticketed special exhibitions, and one ticket gets you into all the exhibitions rather than one each. Tickets can be booked in advance or bought on the day. The centre is a registered charity and states that ticket income funds its community and outreach work.

Illustrate Late

The centre runs an after-hours programme called Illustrate Late, bringing people and illustration together in the evening rather than the afternoon. There was a special late advertised for Thursday 24 September when we checked.

Evening openings at a new museum tend to be irregular at first, so the What’s On page is the one to watch rather than assuming a fixed night. Our museum lates guide covers the rest of the city’s evening openings.

Where it is

New River Head, Clerkenwell, London EC1R 1AG. That is walkable from Angel and from Farringdon, and the surrounding streets are among the more rewarding parts of central London to arrive on foot through.

Nearby

Central London covers what else is inside a walk, free museums covers what costs nothing, and things to do at night covers the evening once the galleries shut.