Stratford Armouries is a small museum attached to the Stratford-upon-Avon Lodge Retreat, a hotel offering cabin-based accommodation located near to the village of Snitterfield, approx 4 miles from Straford-upon-Avon town centre. It consists of three rooms, one housing a collection of

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

memorabilia, one with a

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

trench scene and the remains of a

Wellington bomber The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its ...

, and one with artefacts from the airborne operation on the bridge at Bénouville in Normandy, better known as the

Pegasus Bridge Pegasus Bridge, originally called the Bénouville Bridge after the neighbouring village, is a road crossing over the Caen Canal, between Caen and Ouistreham in Normandy. The original bridge, built in 1934, is now a war memorial and is the cent ...

. Admission is free (as of August 2021).

History

The Wigington family arrived in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

around 1750. In the nineteenth century James's Great Grandfather Thomas Mabbutt was the managing director of the Abingdon Gunworks Company in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

manufacturing Snider, Chassepot and Martini guns. The family built a private collection of arms and armour during their 250 years in the trade and in 2007 the museum was built on an site - the former RAF Snitterfield in order to house the collection. It was open to the public and included a wide range of exhibits - the most noteworthy included a life-sized armoured Indian elephant, a

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

dating from 1450, and a giant

crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fi ...

modelled on

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

's original design. The elephant armour was designed and constructed by

Terry English Terry English is a British armourer, mainly designing and making arms and armour, as well as props, for film and television productions. His work is held in museums such as the UK's Royal Armouries, and in private collections. Early life and career ...

, a famous armourer who has worked on several famous films including the

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

series. The museum struggled to make a profit however and in 2015 the majority of the collection was sold at auction. The site was then redeveloped as a lodge retreat hotel with the current smaller museum housed in an annex. It was re-opened in spring 2016]. The redevelopment was initially opposed by the planning authorities, but was allowed on later appeal.

Exhibits

There are four main exhibits in the museum housed in three rooms. The largest room holds an interesting collection of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

memorabilia built by Jack Darrah and his daughter Carol Harwood, with items from both Churchill’s political and personal life. The collection was originally sited at Bletchley Park. The second room contains a reconstruction of a trench from the First World War and the remains of a Vickers Wellington bomber. The third and smallest room contains various artefacts from the operation to seize control of the bridge at Bénouville in Normandy during the Second World War, better known as the

. This includes many interesting references to the gliders used in the assault.

Notes

Buildings and structures in Stratford-upon-Avon Museums in Warwickshire Military and war museums in England Armour collections {{Warwickshire-geo-stub