Davenport's Magic Kingdom

Davenport’s Magic Kingdom is a time-travel tour through the history of British magical entertainment and the place of one unique family in that story.

Artifacts on display include a first edition of Discoverie of Witchcraft, written in 1584 and now recognised as the first published material on conjuring, and the full-size reproduction of Harry Houdini’s Chinese Water Torture Tank, built for the film Death Defying Acts starring Catherine Zeta Jones.

There is even an opportunity to be ‘levitated by Paul Daniels’.

Explore the story of the Davenport family, starting with Lewis, who performed over 3,000 times at the Maskelyne’s Home of Mystery, St. George’s Hall and founded Davenport’s Magic 115 years ago. Find Lewis Davenport’s 1928 Rolls Royce Limousine parked outside the recreation of 15 New Oxford Street, Britain’s most successful magic shop in the 1920s and 1930s and meet our very own magician demonstrating magic tricks from the period behind the counter.

Discover the stories of some of the world’s most famous magicians, including the Maskelyne family, David Devant, Robert Harbin, Harry Houdini and Chung Ling Soo.

The Davenport collections include ventriloquists’ dolls, tricks from the last 300 years, over 100 magic posters and prints, costumes and stage sets that belonged to the greatest magicians in the history of magic.

NEW FOR 2015

Butterfly Girl Sideshow

Puzzle Zone and play area