The Science Museum seems to be opening new galleries at a rate of knots. Appropriate, then, that its latest exhibition features the life and works of that hero of steam and power James Watt.

The attic workshop of the industrial icon has been reassembled as the centrepiece of the new exhibition. And, unbelievably, it’s all genuine:

When Watt died in 1819, his workshop at his home near Birmingham, was locked and its contents left undisturbed as an ‘industrial shrine’. Then, in 1924, the complete workshop, including its door, window, skylight, floorboards and 6,500 objects used or created by Watt, were carefully removed and transported to the Science Museum. Although the workshop has previously been displayed at the Museum, visitors have never been invited inside until now.

The objects include the earliest surviving sandpaper and the world’s first circular saw. It’s remarkable that the museum has been sitting on such a treasure trove all these decades.

Here’s brains-about-town Adam Hart-Davis to introduce the exhibition:

James Watt and Our World opens on 23 March at the Science Museum.