Royal Albert Memorial Museum

Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) on Queens street, Exeter, Devon, England is the largest museum in the city.

History

Initially proposed by Sir Stafford Northcote as a practical memorial to Prince Albert, an appeal fund was launched in 1861 and the first phases of the building were completed by 1868. The Devon and Exeter Albert Memorial, as it was originally known, provided an integrated museum, art gallery, library, reading room, school of art and school of science in the manner long advocated by Prince Albert.

In 1899 York Wing was opened by the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George V and Queen Mary, and at the same time the title of Royal Albert Memorial was granted.

The building has changed little since then although the city library moved out of the Museum in 1930, the school of science ultimately developed into the University of Exeter and the school of art is now the University of Plymouth's Faculty of Art & Education. The Museum then gradually expanded to fill the whole building.

RAMM is now a hub museum under the government's Renaissance Programme [http://www.mla.gov.uk/programmes/renaissance Renaissance Programme] .]

Collections

Archeology, Coins and Medals, Costume and Textiles, Decorative and Applied Art, Fine Art, Natural Sciences, World Cultures, 1.5 million objects in total. Present collecting focuses largely on objects of local interest.

Fine Art

The Museum's fine art collection comprises over 7,000 objects in an eclectic mix of paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture, representing important British artists and celebrating the museum's location in the South West.

The many donors who contributed to the collection are too numerous to list but include Kent Kingdon (an upholsterer and interior designer), Sir Harry Veitch (owner of the famous horticultural firm Veitch and Sons) and John Lane (founder of the famous publishing firm The Bodley Head). [http://www.devonmuseums.net/component/option,com_mumancontent/task,view/sectionid,35/catid,299/]

Veitch Memorial Lecture

At the end of every July, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum holds a plant-orientated lecture in memory of Sir Harry Veitch. [http://www.caradocdoy.co.uk/veitch_nursery]

Redevelopment

The building is closed to the public from 1 December 2007 until 2010 for redevelopment.The Heritage Lottery Fund has contributed nearly £10million to Exeter City Council's £15million redevelopment project that will allow RAMM to grow and develop to meet 21st Century needs. [Cite web|url=http://www.exeter.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=7360|title=Exeter City Council - RAMM Funders|accessdate=2007-11-09|year=2007] It includes a purpose-built off-site collections store, a complete redisplay of the collections, an extension and a new entrance from the gardens at the rear. [Cite web|url=http://www.exeter.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2933|title=Exeter City Council - A Brief History|accessdate=2007-11-09|year=2007]

While the main museum building is closed, the museum is running a small gallery in Exeter Central Library, as well as opening St Nicholas Priory to the public and schools.

There is a full [http://www.exeter.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3057 programme] of events and exhibitions running whilst the redevelopment project takes place.

Funding

The Museum and Art Gallery is owned and partly funded by Exeter City Council.

Other funding is from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Renaissance

References

External links

* [http://www.exeter.gov.uk/ramm Official website]
* [http://www.molli.org.uk/index.asp World Cultures collection Online]
* [http://www.exeter.gov.uk/timetrail/generic/index.asp Time Trail website]
* [http://www.enjoyengland.com/stay/ProductDetail.aspx?Sec=Attractions&Pid=134049 RAMM on enjoyengland.com]