Royal Albert Memorial Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1868 |
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| Location | Queen Street, Exeter, England |
| Visitors | 340,000 (2012) |
The Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM) is a cool museum and art gallery in Exeter, Devon, England. It's the biggest one in the city! RAMM has huge and varied collections. You can see amazing things like animals, art, old tools from different cultures, and even rocks and fossils. The museum has over a million objects, but only a small part of them are on display at any time.
RAMM first opened its doors in 1868. It's located in a beautiful building made of local red stone, designed in the Gothic Revival style. The museum has been made bigger several times over the years. Most recently, it reopened on December 15, 2011, after a big four-year makeover that cost £24 million. Since then, RAMM has won many awards!
Contents
History of RAMM
How RAMM Started
The land for the museum was given by Richard Gard, who was a Member of Parliament for Exeter. A competition was held to design the building, and John Hayward's Gothic style plan was chosen. He originally wanted a tall central tower, but that idea was changed to a gable and a rose window instead.
The idea for the museum came from Sir Stafford Northcote. He wanted to create a useful memorial to Prince Albert, who was Queen Victoria's husband. A fundraising effort began in 1861. John Gendall volunteered to gather the first collection of items for the museum. The first parts of the building were finished by 1868.
RAMM was very important for Exeter's cultural life. The city's university, main library, and art college all started within what was then called the 'Devon and Exeter Albert Memorial'. This original building had a museum, an art gallery, a free library, a reading room, an art school, and an engineering school. This was exactly what Prince Albert had wanted.
Growing Bigger
The museum quickly ran out of space for all its items. So, new parts were added in 1894 and again in 1898. The second new part, called the York Wing, was opened by the Duke and Duchess of York. They later became King George V and Queen Mary. At the same time, the museum was given the special title 'Royal'. That's why it became known as the Royal Albert Memorial Museum. Over time, people started calling it 'RAMM' for short, and now that's its official brand name.
For many years, the museum stayed much the same after these additions. The city library moved out of RAMM in 1930. The science school eventually grew into the University of Exeter. The art school became part of the University of Plymouth. Slowly, RAMM expanded to fill the entire building.
RAMM Today
Between 2007 and 2011, RAMM had a huge renovation that cost £24 million. Architects Allies and Morrison designed the changes. This included fixing up the building, making it look new inside, and completely rearranging how the collections were displayed. They also added a new part and a new entrance from the beautiful gardens behind the museum. The Heritage Lottery Fund gave almost £10 million for this project. A special storage building, called the Ark, was also built off-site to keep collections safe. The museum reopened on December 15, 2011.
RAMM is open from 10 AM to 5 PM every day, except Mondays and bank holidays. The best part is, entry is completely free!
Museum Collections
RAMM has four main types of collections: old objects (antiquities), art, natural history, and items from different world cultures. The world cultures collections are so important that the UK government says they are nationally and internationally significant.
The museum's zoology collection includes many different animals, like invertebrates (animals without backbones) and mammals from all over the world. The collection of echinoderms (like starfish and sea urchins) from Percy Sladen is kept here. It's considered one of the most important collections of its kind outside of national museums.
RAMM also has a very large collection of costumes and textiles (fabrics). Experts say it's one of the most important collections outside of London. Because these materials are very delicate, they are not always on display.
The art collection at RAMM has over 7,000 pieces. These include paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures. They feature important British artists, especially those connected to the South West of England. You can see works by famous artists like Gainsborough, Reynolds, Barbara Hepworth, and David Bomberg. Many generous people have given items to the collection over the years.
Awards and Recognition
In 2012, RAMM was named the United Kingdom's "Museum of the Year" by The Art Fund charity. They praised its "ambition and imagination."
Since reopening, RAMM has won more than a dozen other awards. These include three awards from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 2013. It also won an award for its excellent way of managing its collections in 2013. In 2012, it even won an American Event Design Award for Best Museum Environment.
Funding RAMM
RAMM is owned and partly funded by Exeter City Council. It also gets extra money from Arts Council England, which helps support arts organizations. A lot of money for its big renovation between 2007 and 2011 came from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Images for kids
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The present museum building within central Exeter
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Prince Albert sculpted by Devon-born Edward Bowring Stephens (1815–1882), main staircase of Royal Albert Memorial Museum. Inscribed on base: "E B Stephens ARA 1868". Stephens gave his labour gratis and was a benefactor of the museum and had been a promoter of its predecessor
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The study of Percy Sladen; his collection of echinoderms is one of the most significant outside any national collection.
