Our physical Museum may be closed for the time being, but we are still open virtually. Here are all the ways you can visit us from home.

Hear the story

The story of the Order of St John is told in under 7 minutes in this video by St John Ambulance Badgers and Cadets. Or, if you’d rather, you can read the story on our website.

For a more detailed history, try this series of videos:

• Origins in the East 1080-1291
• The Knights of Rhodes 1291-1530
• Malta: Island Fortress 1530-1798
• Europe, the World and St John 1798-today

For those with a particular interest in the history, the One St John Historical Journal is published online once a year.

Take a virtual tour of our buildings

You can visit the Museum galleries and historic rooms of St John’s Gate on Google Street View, or you can take this silent video tour of the historic rooms and church and crypt. You can listen to the Farringdon Ring audio tour from home, to learn about the history of St John’s Gate and the Priory Church, as well as other historic buildings in the area.

View our artworks

Many of our watercolours can be viewed on the Watercolour World website, while all our oil paintings and sculptures are on the Art UK website.

Explore our collection

Visit our website to explore a selection of collection highlights.

Our entire medieval collection can be explored via the Bearers of the Cross website, where you will also find informative blogs and talks, putting these extraordinary collections into context.

Learn about St John Ambulance’s work during the First World War…

All the First Aid Journals from the First World War years can be viewed online, filled with stories about the work of St John Ambulance during that period:

• First Aid Journal 1912-1914
• First Aid Journal 1914-1916
• First Aid Journal 1916-1917
• First Aid Journal 1918-1920

St John Ambulance volunteer Veronica Nisbet made a scrapbook recording her experience during the First World War, when she served as a Voluntary Aid Detachment Nurse at the St John Ambulance Brigade Hospital in Étaples, northern France. The scrapbook can be viewed online, as can a reimagined version created by St John Ambulance Cadets to mark the centenary of the First World War.

St John worked together with British Red Cross during the First World War, and the records and stories of volunteers can be explored on the British Red Cross website.

…and during the Second World War

As well as for the First World War, the First Aid Journals from the Second World War years can also be viewed online, providing a snapshot of life at the time:

• First Aid Journal 1940-1941
• First Aid Journal 1942-1943
• First Aid Journal 1943-1944
• First Aid Journal 1945-1946

Find activities for families, Badgers and Cadets

Many of the resources listed above are suitable for the whole family. In particular, the story of the Order of St John as told by Badgers and Cadets, and the Victoria Nisbet scrapbook. Inspired by Victoria Nisbet and others like her, the Story of a VAD Nurse is aimed at children and recounts the wartime experiences of a fictional St John VAD during the First World War.

As well as these, there are downloadable colouring and activity sheets for Badgers, Cadets and families available on our website.

You can also find new education packs for learning at home over on our Schools page.

Get social

You can find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, where we are sharing #BehindTheScenes content. We also have a blog on our website, where you can find out about projects we’ve run and stories we have to tell.