The Royal Army Chaplains' Museum (formerly the Museum of Army Chaplaincy) tells the story of

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

chaplaincy A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intel ...

from earliest times to the present day, with the help of archive material and historical relics from several centuries. Its collection is dedicated to the work of Army Chaplains throughout history in peacetime, under fire, and in captivity. The museum archives also hold material relating to the department and its history, including information on the four chaplains who have been awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. There is a linked charity, The Museum Of The Royal Army Chaplains' Department, which was first registered in 1979. The museum was housed in

Bagshot Park Bagshot Park is a royal residence located near Bagshot, a village south of Windsor. It is on Bagshot Heath, a tract of formerly open land in Surrey and Berkshire. Bagshot Park occupies within the designated area of Windsor Great Park. The ...

, Surrey, until 2001 when it was rehoused in a converted stable block at Amport House in Hampshire which was the home of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department within the Tri-Service Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre. The new energy-efficient building for the museum at the

Defence Academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

Shrivenham Shrivenham is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Faringdon. The village is close to the county boundary with Wiltshire and about east-northeast of Swindon. The 2011 Census recorde ...

, Oxfordshire was designed by Hewitt Studios of Bath, and opened by the

Countess of Wessex Earl of Wessex is a title that has been created twice in British history – once in the pre-Conquest Anglo-Saxon nobility of England, and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In the 6th century AD the region of Wessex (the lands of the W ...

on 17 May 2022. The museum's collections include the remaining records of the Royal Army Temperance Association and the records of the Churches' Work for Women in the Forces.

References

External links

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Royal Army Chaplain's Museum
at Google Maps; includes photos
Official Twitter
Army museums in England

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Military chaplains

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

Museums in Wiltshire {{UK-museum-stub

See also

References

External links