Army museum receives national recognition from Arts Council

16 January 2025
faith
A man stood in a military museum stood next to a gold cross exhibit with faith in forces displays in the background.

A man stood in a military museum stood next to a gold cross exhibit with faith in forces displays in the background.

The Royal Army Chaplains’ Museum has received Full Accreditation status from the Arts Council England, in recognition of its commitment to preserving the military’s faith heritage.

Located at Beckett Gate, the museum promotes public understanding of religion and belief in the military. It regularly hosts visitors to the Defence Academy and those external to Shrivenham Station, while representing faith and worship from across all three of the military services.

The Accreditation Scheme is the UK industry standard for museums and galleries, governing how they are managed, how they care for their collections and how they engage with visitors.

The process to secure the new status took eight months. Museum Curator, David Blake, was thrilled to learn the application had been successful. He said:

“Accreditation is the nationally agreed standard to ensure all museums are sustainable, focused and trusted, inspiring the confidence of the public, funding, and governing bodies.
The Royal Army Chaplains’ Museum aims to inform and inspire visitors with the heritage and practice of Faith in the Forces, while advancing the education and public understanding of religion and belief in military life.  This recognition has helped the museum focus on how it plans to meet these and other objectives.”

The museum relocated to Shrivenham Station from its previous home at Amport House, following the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre’s move to Beckett House in 2019. In 2020, work started on building a new permanent home for the collection, which was officially opened in May 2022 by The Duchess of Edinburgh, formally Sophie Countess of Wessex.