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The
National
Army
Museum
is
the
British
Army's
central
museum.
It
is
located
in
the
Chelsea
district
of
central
London,
adjacent
to
the
Royal
Hospital
Chelsea,
the
home
of
the
"Chelsea
Pensioners".
The
museum
is
a
non-departmental
public
body.
It
is
usually
open
to
the
public
from
10:00am
to
5:30pm,
except
on
25–26
December
and
1
January.
Admission
is
free.
Having
reopened
in
March
2017
following
a
major
£23.75
million
re-development
project
including
£11.5m
from
the
Heritage
Lottery
Fund,
the
museum
houses
five
galleries
that
cover
British
military
history
from
the
English
Civil
War
up
to
modern
day.[2][3][4]
This
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
corps
and
regiments
of
the
British
Army.
It
also
differs
from
the
subject
matter
of
the
Imperial
War
Museum,
another
national
museum
in
London,
which
has
a
wider
remit
of
theme
(war
experiences
of
British
civilians
and
military
personnel
from
all
three
services)
but
a
narrower
remit
of
time
(after
1914).
The
National
Army
Museum
was
first
conceived
in
the
late
1950s,
and
owes
its
existence
to
the
persistent
hard
work
of
Field
Marshal
Sir
Gerald
Templer,
who
did
most
of
the
fundraising
for
it.[5]
It
was
established
by
Royal
Charter
in
1960,
with
the
intention
of
collecting,
preserving,
and
exhibiting
objects
and
records
relating
to
the
Regular
and
Auxiliary
forces
of
the
British
Army
and
of
the
Commonwealth,
and
to
encourage
research
into
their
history
and
traditions.[6]
It
was
initially
established
in
1960
in
temporary
accommodation
at
the
former
No.1
Riding
School
at
the
Royal
Military
Academy
Sandhurst.[7]
A
new
purpose-built
building,
designed
in
brutalist
style
by
William
Holford
&
Partners,
was
started
in
1961
on
a
site
which
had
previously
formed
part
of
the
old
infirmary
of
the
Royal
Hospital
Chelsea.
The
new
building
was
completed
ten
years
later
and
opened
by
the
Queen
on
11
November
1971.[8]
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]
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