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Royal Army Chaplains' Museum

military museum in Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 10, 2026
Entity authorityQ6940753
Source-derived summary

The Royal Army Chaplains' Museum (formerly the Museum of Army Chaplaincy) at Shrivenham, England, tells the story of British Army chaplaincy from earliest times to the present day, with the help of archive material and historical relics from several centuries.

Collection

Its collection is dedicated to the work of Army Chaplains throughout history in peacetime, under fire, and in captivity. The museum archives also hold material relating to the department and its history, including information on the four chaplains who have been awarded the Victoria Cross. There is a linked charity, The Museum Of The Royal Army Chaplains' Department, which was first registered in 1979.

The museum's collections include the remaining records of the Royal Army Temperance Association and the records of the Churches' Work for Women in the Forces.

History

The museum was housed in Bagshot Park, Surrey, until 2001 when it was rehoused in a converted stable block at Amport House in Hampshire. Amport House was the home of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department (and the joint service Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre) until 2020, when the property was sold by the Ministry of Defence.

The new energy-efficient building for the museum at the Defence Academy, Shrivenham, Oxfordshire was designed by Hewitt Studios of Bath, and opened by the Countess of Wessex on 17 May 2022.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Royal Army Chaplains' Museum” as military museum in Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Royal, Army and Chaplains'.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1979, 2001, 2020, 2022—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Royal, Army and Chaplains' providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Royal Army Chaplains' Museum”, the useful work is to connect “military museum in Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6940753. Authority coordinates are 51.604, -1.645. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1979, 2001, 2020 and 2022.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Royal Army Chaplains' Museum”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Royal Army Chaplains' Museum primary sources, Royal Army Chaplains' Museum archive and Royal research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Royal Army Chaplains' Museum”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Royal Army Chaplains' Museum” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.