The London Archaeological Archives & Research Center (LAARC) is the third building in the Museum of London group. While the Museum of London itself serves as the face for this organization, providing exhibits on the history and archaeology of London for visitors to view, much of the work involved is done behind the scenes here, at this work and storage center.
The Museum of London Archaeology is involved in all excavations that take place in London, and sometimes further afield as well. Any materials that are found come back to LAARC, where they are processed by the thirty-five specialists who work there. Though a few items, such as designer clothes, are purchased, many items are donated; they will take anything that was used in London and that they do not already have an example of; everything is catalogued by accession number. They work with anything dating from prehistory to the Second World War. Therefore, they have ended up with quite a large variety of items. We saw saint badges, ancient ice skates, a brick from the Great Fire, and even a boot found in one of Shakespeare’s theatres.
Boot, contemporary with Shakespeare, LAARC.
Objects aren’t the only things that LAARC specializes in. They also make plans of old buildings that are being taken down so that they can be reconstructed later. They are also using oral history to gather information about some objects in the archive, such as machinery, that was used by people who are still living and able to explain how it worked and what it was used for.
Corinna's Going a Maying 