Five-day museum closure as part of £3.5m revamp of Fort Nelson - Tuesday, 22 February 2011
The Royal Armouries Museum at Fort Nelson will close for five days after the half-term holiday as part of the latest phase of its long-awaited £3.5m redevelopment.
The museum will be closed to visitors from Monday, February 28, to Friday, March 4,inclusive, to allow essential works, including the relocation of some of the largest guns in the national collection.
Sean Mannie, Head of Royal Armouries South, said, “We’re sorry to have to shut the museum and we have deliberately scheduled the closure for after half-term, when we are running our popular children’s events on the Tuesday and Thursday. We have also confined the work to weekdays, so we can ensure it’s business as usual at weekends.”
Access to the grounds outside the Victorian Fort on Portsdown Hill remains unaffected – visitors will still be able to walk around the dry moat surrounding the museum, access the grassed area and enjoy the scenic views over Portsmouth Harbour.
This is the only planned closure of the Fort during its redevelopment, which is part-funded by a grant of nearly £2m from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project is due to complete this summer and will see the fort transformed into a museum fit for the 21st century, complete with a glass-sided new gallery, visitor centre, classroom-of-the-future and extended parking
For more details about the Fort redevelopment, and the half-term holiday events, visit website.
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Primary PR Ltd.
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Notes to editors
- The Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson houses the national collection of historic cannon and big guns. The museum houses one of the world’s finest collections with over 350 cannon dating back over 600 years. The collection originated at HM Tower of London and has been on display in Hampshire since 1995.
- The Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson also tells the story of the Palmerston Forts, built to protect Portsmouth from a feared French invasion in the 1860’s.
- Fort Nelson is open every day except 24-26 December. April to October 10am –5pm (Wed 11am-5pm), November – March 10.30am – 4pm (Wed 11.30-4pm).
- Admission to the Royal Armouries is FREE.
- Admission charges apply to some events.
- Information line: 01329 233734
- Website: www.royalarmouries.org
- Email: fnenquiries@armouries.org.uk
- The Royal Armouries is the national museum of arms and armour with sites at Fort Nelson, Leeds, HM Tower of London and Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
- To support the work of the Royal armouries; make a donation at justgiving.com
- The Royal Armouries Museum should not be confused with Royal Armouries International plc, the private sector corporate hospitality business.
Download the PDF press release.