Background
The Royal Engineers Museum and Library were established at the Royal School of Military Engineering in the nineteenth century. In the mid-1980s the Museum was relocated to a spectacular listed building at the edge of the School within a conservation area where, over a period of fifteen years, over 5,000 square metres of galleries, stores and facilities were created as well as further displays in the extensive grounds.
The Library, with over 500 square metres of book stacks and reading space remained within the camp. Together, these collections of around half a million items were Designated in 1998 by the Museum and Galleries Commission as 'internationally' important.
The Museum has consistently met the rising professional standards required for Registered status, starting in 1992 and culminating in Accreditation in 2005. We are members of a variety of professional bodies and are active members of the various national, regional and local museum and cultural networks. We work to meet the needs of the general public, the Royal Engineers charities, the MOD, the Department of Culture Media and Sport and the government's various heritage sector Non Departmental Public Bodies, as well as related regional tourism and heritage bodies. We also meet and continue to aim to comply with the growing statutory requirements of the sector. Our plans and objectives therefore have to address a spectrum of requirements and to do so physically and practically. We hope this gives a brief insight into our achievements in recent years and our ambitions.
Achievements 2002 - 2006
Visitor and User numbers have risen for the last three consecutive years and
are now the best since 1994.
A substantial programme of special educational events
has been developed and a schools programme enlarged
to include annual competitions and visits to schools.
These programmes have gone hand-in-hand with focussed
advertising and the construction of a substantial Website,
a comprehensive commercial pricing and intellectual
property licensing system, joint tickets with other
attractions and incorporation of our trading outlet.
Over the last four years substantial improvements have
been made to the custodianship of the collection, its
conservation, audit and location, both in the grounds
and in the stores. We have also updated policies and
processes associated with this and with audience development.
Minor projects associated with renewing gallery displays
have gained momentum. Larger projects that have been
completed include renewal of the Museum's flat roof,
its entire fenestration and its car park, as well as
substantial investment in general maintenance in the
grounds, heating, sanitation and office decoration and
facilities. The ornamental listed foyer has been completely
renovated with a new shop, refreshment area, porch,
lighting and introductory gallery. Redundant rooms in
towers have been reconditioned into working stores.
The lift has been reinstated and floor levels adjusted
to meet this. The Museum's covered courtyard is being
rearranged to provide more displays, more space and
better ultraviolet protection. Both the MOD and the
Museum's fund raising charity, the RE Museum Foundation, have supported this.
The organisation has gradually strengthened its professionally
qualified curatorial team and volunteer and student
force and increased their access to training. It is
seeking greater engagement by the Royal Engineers regiments
and for young trainee Sappers. Many of these elements
have contributed to the Museum's government Accreditation
success in October 2005 - amongst the first museums
in the country to achieve this.
Future Plans & Objectives 2006 -2010
Overview - We intend to maintain our momentum of incremental improvements in services, facilities and audience development by pursuing a vigorous programme of capital projects. These will increase the amount of the collection that is directly accessible and interesting to the customer within a consolidated Museum site and in a major neighbouring attraction and reduce occupation of inaccessible MOD buildings.
In the collection itself, efforts will continue on gallery rejuvenation and on commencing an audit of our extensive archives in both the Museum and Library along with database integration - all essential preconditions for collocation of the Library within the Museum. We shall continue to invest in the displayed collection through the efforts of the Friends of the RE Museum (FoREM) and of our volunteers and through directing any proceeds from the legitimate sale of surplus deaccessioned items to conservation work. We shall also work with the Regiments on training projects in the grounds to produce improved static vehicle displays. £8,500 has been raised specifically for this.
Starting in 2007 the Museum will offer an Outreach programme for schools and will start to link school events on weekdays to its programme of weekend special educational events. More will be done to engage in the specific interests of young soldiers when visiting as part of their official courses.
Successful fundraising through grant submissions by the Museum and direct fundraising events by the RE Museum Foundation will be essential. All of these processes have been making good progress. There are five major projects:
- Chatham Dockyard - 2007 - This is an exciting partnership
with Kent's HUB museum to display 30 of our large items
alongside similar items of theirs as an 'Open Store'
in a spectacular ancient monument at the heart of the
Dockyard. It will also tell the story of the Corps'
role in designing and building the Royal Dockyards and
the display area will be available to us to hold promotional
events. The required funds, £500,000, have been raised
for this.
- Front of House - 2007 - This group of smaller projects will
continue the improvement of the Museum's 'front of house'
galleries - its medal rooms, shop equipment and education
facilities. Aside of a minor grant application, the
bulk of the funds, £72,000, has been raised for this.
- Bridge Model & Fortification Galleries - 2008 - This involves
the rehabilitation of an 850 square metre stable as
our garage for working exhibits, our workshops, closed
stores and galleries for the Corps' training bridge
models. This unique collection will be integrated into
our school education programme and the facility also
includes an area for demonstrating floating bridge models.
In addition we wish to renew our fortification galleries.
These projects will cost around £190,000. We have received
a confirmation of a bequest in the region of £60,000
which will go towards this and other donations are anticipated.
We shall be seeking around £100,000 grant assistance
from the Designation Challenge Fund or Wolfson Trust.
- Library Collocation with the Museum's stores
and WW1 & 2 Galleries - This, the most demanding
project, involves the move of the Library into the Museum
and the reconstruction and enlargement of the WW1 and
WW2 galleries underneath. It will finally unify the
collection and expose about 50% of it directly to the
public, with the rest much more accessible by appointment.
Through the insertion of a new 400 square metre floor
in the former power station a huge area of currently
wasted, dark and environmentally inefficient space can
be rehabilitated. It will provide an atmospherically
controlled, properly lit suite of stores, closed book
stacks and study rooms overlooking the covered courtyard,
as well as a linked reading room. Beneath this, new
large galleries, with special exhibition and presentation
space, would expose much more of the collection in a
more imaginative way. This complete learning experience
would allow the visitor the option to link their investigation
of the artefacts in the galleries with the archives
above and the opportunity to explore wider historical
and engineering topics in a library of university faculty
standards. This is particularly relevant in the immediate
locality where Medway's university population is growing
and Mid Kent College is seeking to relocate. Excluding
'in kind' financial contributions, £25,000 has been
raised towards this. The RE Museum Foundation is currently aiming to raise £100,000
and a further £400,000 partnership funding will be required
to match VAT requirements and a £1.125M Heritage Lottery
Bid by 2008/9.
- Future Proofing Stores and Contemporary Display
Space - A longer term project adapts the two
remaining small buildings in the adjacent Museum estate
to become stores for the future growth of the collection
and adds, within the Museum's roofed courtyard, first
floor sections to provide display areas for the continuing
story of the Corps. Both these concepts should provide
at least 25 years-worth of growth in the stores and
displays without requiring new buildings.
Fund raising activities
Fund raising activities for 2007 are yet to be confirmed.
If you would like to make a financial contribution
towards some of the above projects please look at the
Financial
Assistance page to find out how you can.
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