December 2001
UK national museums go free (2001)
The UK government made admission free at national museums and galleries, including the British Museum, National Gallery, and Tate. The policy replaced admission revenue with direct government funding.
Then
Attendance at national museums increased significantly in the years after the change.
Now
Free admission became the norm for major UK museums, though some later introduced charges for special exhibitions.
Why this matters now
It is the largest real-world test of whether dropping admission fees builds audiences. Blandford is running a smaller version without government funding to replace the lost revenue.