In its centenary year as a public building, Leighton House is looking back at how its famous Arab Hall was designed and built.

Featuring original designs by architect George Aitchison, ceramicist William De Morgan and illustrator Walter Crane, alongside works by Leighton and ceramics from his collection, the exhibition offers visitors a window into the collaborative process that brought the Arab Hall to life.

Made up mostly of drawings and sketches, the exhibition shows some of the thinking behind the design of the famous pop-song filming location and how he secured the tiles from Middle Eastern sellers, often taken from buildings that had fallen into ruins.

It also shows off some of the changes to the original design which were never fully realised.

The exhibition is based on new research by Dr Melanie Gibson, which has uncovered how some of Leighton’s trips across southern Spain, Turkey, Egypt, Syria, and Sicily inspired the design of his London hall.

One of the rarer paintings on display is one from inside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, which he was allowed to paint after applying to the British consulate for permission and paying a fee. The exhibition also includes the only painting of the hall that Leighton made, of a child sitting on the floor reading a book.

As someone who uses his phone to capture exhibition captions and things that catch my attention, it was wryly amusing to see Leighton’s smartphone-sized pocket notebooks, where he did essentially the same thing, with a pencil.

The exhibition is in Leighton House’s basement gallery. Although the main house charges an entry fee, the basement gallery is free to visit.

It’s open until 4th October 2026, and you can visit on Wednesdays to Sunday between 10am and 5:30pm.

Although the exhibition is free, if you want to visit the rest of the house, entry is paid, and, very annoyingly, adults now have to buy a joint ticket for both Leighton House and Sambourne House.

It’s cheaper to visit both at the same time, but removing the option to visit just one is a tad irksome.

• Adults: £23
• Concessions: £16
• Children (6-19): £8
• Children (under 6): Free
• National Art Pass: £13

Details here.