Museum

The Wardrobe

Salisbury, United Kingdom

Address

  • Housing The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum
  • 58 The Close
  • Salisbury SP1 2EX
  • United Kingdom

Regular hours

Monday
10:00 – 17:00
Tuesday
10:00 – 17:00
Wednesday
10:00 – 17:00
Thursday
10:00 – 17:00
Friday
10:00 – 17:00
Saturday
10:00 – 17:00
Sunday
Closed

Travel Information

Train: Salisbury

The Royal Berkshire Regiment, with its Museum in Brock Barracks, Oxford Road, Reading, and The Wiltshire Regiment whose Museum was in Le Marchant Barracks, London Road, Devizes, merged in 1959 to become the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment. However the 2 Museums continued on their separate sites for a number of years before the move to a united Regimental Headquarters and Museum in Salisbury in the early 1980s. The DERR Museum was officially opened by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Colonel-in-Chief of the Regiment, on 29 July 1982.

In 1994 DERR amalgamated with the Gloucestershire Regiment to form the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment. The collection and archives of the Gloucestershire Regiment are housed in the 'Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum', Custom House, Gloucester GL1  2HE, you can access their web site by using our "Useful Links".

In 2005 the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment became the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry and in 2007 merged with a number of other regiments to form The Rifles. The Museum therefore changed its name again to the present title of The Rifles (Berkshire and Wiltshire) Museum.

The Collection

This relates to the regular, militia and volunteer infantry units of Berkshire and Wiltshire. It does not contain any items for the yeomanry units of either county – see Links page for details of their museums – or other military units directly associated with the two counties.

The Collection is displayed in 4 ground floor rooms and tells the story of our Regiments and the soldiers in them over the last 250 years. Inevitably lack of space means that a large number of items are not on show – you can explore many of these through the online search facility on this website.

Drawing

Artists may visit the Museum to draw, but please note that only dry materials (but not charcoal or sprays) are allowed. Clipboards are advisable, as safety considerations rule out using the glass in the desk cases to lean on while drawing.

The Museum Shop

The Museum has a book and gift shop in which you will find items which relate to subjects represented in the collection (souvenirs, postcards and a selection of books with a theme sympathetic to the museum). You can now shop on-line. Select 'Museum Shop' from the menu.

Refreshment Facilities

The Wardrobe has a converted coach house, which is now the Bernières Tea Room. It is generally open on a daily basis from 10 am until 2 pm. Available are Morning Coffee, Home Cooked Lunches and baguettes or sandwiches to order. You are advised to confirm opening times with Bernières staff before a visit, on 01722 413666. There are no public parking facilities at the Wardrobe for Bernières customers.

Other Attractions

Information about other attractions may be found at http://www.thewardrobe.org.uk/research/useful-links 

Follow

Add event

Add event

Claim

Claim

Exhibiting artists