Jack the Ripper Museum

The Jack the Ripper Museum, located in a historic Victorian house in Whitechapel, London, delves into the infamous 1888 murders. Visitors can explore recreated crime scenes, view original artifacts, and learn about the lives of the victims and the police investigation. The museum offers self-guided tours, audio guides, and walking tours, providing a comprehensive experience for history and true crime enthusiasts.

Planning your visit

The Jack the Ripper Museum occupies a Victorian house in Whitechapel, close to where the 1888 murders took place, and covers the case across several floors: recreated crime scenes, police investigation material, contemporary newspaper coverage, and the social conditions of the East End that shaped both the killings and the panic around them.

The museum has attracted sustained criticism, and visitors should know that going in. It received planning permission as a museum of women's history in the East End and opened as this instead, which caused considerable local anger. Debate continues over whether presentations of the case can avoid sensationalising violence against women. The museum's own response has been to give more space to the victims as individuals — Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly — rather than to the unidentified killer, which is the direction serious recent scholarship has also taken.

Whether it succeeds is a judgement each visitor makes. The Whitechapel setting is genuine, and the material on Victorian poverty is substantive.

Bookable options include entry tickets and combination formats bundling the museum with wider London sightseeing. Walking tours of the murder sites are widely available separately. Current availability is listed below.