National Army Museum Chelsea, London GOLD

National Army Museum Chelsea, London

With travel by luxury GOLD coach

 

The Museum and its exhibitions are free for everyone. The galleries showcase the stories of soldiers from the Army's origins to the present day.

 

Running until the 1 Nov 2026, is the exhibition Myth and Reality: Military Art in the Age of Queen Victoria.

This major exhibition of rarely seen artworks explores changing attitudes towards soldiers and the Army during Queen Victoria’s reign (1837 – 1901).

Discover over 100 inspiring artworks - including paintings, sketchbooks and miniatures - from the National Army Museum's collections, as well as major loans from the Royal Collections Trust and the National Portrait Gallery. During Queen Victoria’s reign, military art had an enormous impact on the public in Britain. Demand for news from across the globe created a new trade in war correspondence, with reports sent directly from the battlefield. In an era when photography was still new, artists were commissioned to report and draw scenes from the front.

 

The National Army Museum Collection is the world’s largest, and most significant, accumulation of objects and archives relating to the British Army and other Land Forces of the British Crown (including the former Indian Army until 1947). It consists of over one million items, spanning a 600-year period, and is likely to hold items or references that will be of use to your research into British military history.

Altogether, the Collection comprises:

• over 100,000 archives;

• 58,000 printed books and periodicals;

• 10,000 separate photographic collections (containing over 240,000 photographs);

• 3,670 maps and charts;

• 100,000 items of uniform badges and medals;

• 23,000 items of equipment and vehicles.

 

Several important collections have been transferred to the National Army Museum over the years, including:

• the former collections of the Women's Royal Army Corps, the Buffs and the Middlesex Regiment;

• part of the collection of the former Museum of Army Transport;

• the Disbanded Irish Regiments;

• collections from the (British) Indian Army;

• the Grenadier Guards and Coldstream Guards Archives.

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The Museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, from 10.00am to 5.30pm. Entry to all galleries and temporary exhibitions is free and based in Chelsea, a short walk away from Sloane Square tube station.

 

A fascinating and fun day of discovery for all the family!

 

Depart for home Approx. 17.30

National Army Museum