National Army Museum
Established | 1960 (collection); 1971 (building) |
---|---|
Location | Royal Hospital Road London, SW3 United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 51°29′10″N 0°09′36″W / 51.486111°N 0.16°W |
Visitors | 215,721 (2008, up 7.3%)[1] |
Director | Justin Maciejewski |
Public transit access | Sloane Square |
Website | nam.ac.uk |
The National Army Museum is the
Its remit for the overall history of British land forces contrasts with those of other military museums in the United Kingdom concentrating on the history of individual
History
1960-2014
The National Army Museum was first conceived in the late 1950s, and owes its existence to the persistent hard work of
A new purpose-built building, designed in
One director, Ian Robertson, initiated a programme to establish an outpost of the Museum in the garrison town of Catterick, North Yorkshire, to be known as National Army Museum North, on the model of Imperial War Museum's establishment of the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester. A large site was chosen near Marne Barracks, beside the A1, and in 2002 Simon Pierce of Austin-Smith:Lord was chosen as the new museum's architect.[9] However, funding and planning issues later led to the cancellation of the plan in 2003.[10] The National Army Museum instead underwent a major redevelopment of its gallery and corridor displays at Chelsea from 2006 onwards, establishing new displays in existing permanent display areas, converting the corridors from oil-painting displays to permanent-exhibition spaces, and producing new temporary and permanent display areas on the third floor. This redisplay concluded with the opening of the new permanent National Service gallery in October 2010, though a further phase of redevelopment followed from 2011 onwards.[11]
2014-present
From 1 May 2014 until 30 March 2017, the museum was closed to the public for a major rebuilding programme.
Esther Dugdale from Event Communications noted that "The new museum aims to create a dialogue about the army – not to promote it, but bring the discussion of it into the public domain", and "The displays express its multi-layered history and relationship with the public. It does not shy away from some of the more difficult issues, but also gives a voice to the many who have served and what they have experienced".[18] Dugdale also stated that the new design would be an "immersive experience", allowing visitors to ride simulated tanks, load rifles and understand war tactics in a technology-driven 3D environment.[18]
In early March 2017, the Queen reopened the Museum, marking the completion of a three-year renovation.
Galleries
The 2017 redisplay had a temporary display space (later split into a smaller and a larger space, the latter housing 'Foe to Friend', a 2020 exhibition on the BAOR now running until 2024) and five new permanent galleries: Soldier, Army, Battle and Society.[24] By April 2023 Empire and Army had been replaced by Formation and Global respectively, with Battle replaced by Conflict in Europe on 7 April 2023 and Society due to be replaced by Army At Home in September 2023.[22]
Governance
The National Army Museum achieved devolved status as a
Directors
- Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Bernard Appleby 1971–1975
- John Paris 1975–1982
- William Reid 1982–1988
- Ian Robertson 1988–2003†
- Alan Guy 2003–2010
- Janice Murray 2010–2017
- Justin Maciejewski 2018–
† = Died in post
Notes and references
- ^ "Financial Statements" (PDF). National Army Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 December 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
- ^ "Case Contents - The Buffs". Canterbury Museums.
- ^ "Victoria Cross - The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own)".
- ^ a b c "What the Museum holds". National Army Museum.
- ^ "Sir Gerald Templer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
- ^ a b Account, p. 3
- ^ "1960: Her Majesty The Queen opening the National Army Museum at Sandhurst, formerly No.1 Riding School". Retrieved 21 August 2012.
- ^ "National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London". Royal Institute of British architects. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
- ^ "Designer of military museum is named". BBC News. 14 November 2002. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
- ^ "Shelved: Army museum for the North". Northern Echo. 31 October 2003. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
- ^ Account, p. 20
- ^ National Army Museum Secures £11.5m Heritage Lottery Fund Grant Archived 2 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine, 30 April 2014 (NAM Press Archive)
- ^ Helen Gilbert, New images of BDP's National Army Museum plans revealed, 30 April 2014 (Architects' Journal)
- ^ "National Army Museum closing | Building for the Future | National Army Museum, London". Nam.ac.uk. 1 April 2014. Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
- ^ Ben Macintyre (30 March 2017). "Attention! Forward march to a light-filled museum of army life". Thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ^ Ione Bingley. "National Army Museum re-opens after three years". KCW Today. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ^ "National Army Museum refreshed by BDP | netMAGmedia Ltd". Building-projects.co.uk. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ^ a b c Sarah Dawood (15 April 2017). "New National Army Museum will "discuss, not promote" British Army". Design Week. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- ^ Simpson, Fiona (16 March 2017). "Queen reopens National Army Museum in Chelsea". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
- ^ Andrew Roberts, National Army Museum, The Spectator, 3 June 2017
- ^ Andrew Roberts, The triumph of the National Army Museum, The Spectator, 25 June 2022
- ^ a b Edgington, Steve (14 April 2023). "National Army Museum will not be decolonised, vows its head". Daily Telegraph.
- ^ a b Adams, Geraldine Kendall (18 May 2021). "Concerns raised over National Army Museum restructure". Museums Association.
- ^ "National Army Museum reopens following three-year £23m development". 30 March 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
Sources
- Chandler, D. G. "The National Army Museum." History Today. (Sep 1972), Vol. 22 Issue 9, pp. 664–668; online
- National Army Museum Account 2009–2010 ("The Account") (PDF).
External links
Media related to National Army Museum (United Kingdom) at Wikimedia Commons