THE Queen is welcomed at the new entrance of the Charterhouse in London, where she officially unveiled a new museum, learning centre, café, and exhibition space, on Tuesday.

She last visited the site in 1958, and is one of three royal governors, alongside the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince of Wales. The private ceremony marked the completion of a four-year project in partnership with the Museum of London to open the former Carthusian monastery — now an almshouse with 43 resident brothers — to the public for the first time in its 650-year history (Features, 13 January).

The new entrance off Charterhouse Square was designed by Eric Parry Architects, and its gardens, where Cross Rail excavations uncovered 13 skeletons of the Black Death, one of which is now housed in the museum, have been landscaped by Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, the gardens advisor to Historic Royal Palaces.

The museum is free to enter, and paid tours of the site for schools and other groups are available.

Ann Kenrick (right, above), who was appointed the first female Master of the Charterhouse last month, said on Tuesday: “The main aim of this project has been to try and secure our future, at the heart of which are our brothers, who were very involved from the start. We have a very strong community, which we need to enlarge to the global public so that they can enjoy this space. We stand at the brink of a new era.”