Warwick military museum reopens in new home after pandemic closure

The Fusilier Museum has reopened in its new home

A military museum has reopened after being closed for more than two years.

The Fusilier Museum, based in Warwick, houses artefacts from the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

It has moved to a new home in the town centre to help secure its long-term future after closing due to the pandemic.

"Moving house is bad enough, moving a museum is a complete nightmare," John Rice, retired lieutenant colonel, said.

He said museum bosses had to rethink how it operated which led it to relocate.

"The main point was financial because we lost our Ministry of Defence funding and so we had to become self-funding," he said.

"So we then had to start thinking about the museum more as a business rather than a charity.

"Where we were was financially challenging."

New collections have gone on show

The museum, which had been based at St John's House, celebrates the 350 years of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment as well as remembering servicemen who have lost their lives. It is also a research centre for students an enthusiasts.

Chris Kirby, museum manager, said: "We've actually put on display things that haven't been seen in the old display before and through the use of technology which in a 21st Century museum, we've been able to embed into this museum screens and audio visuals of different sorts.

"We were actually able to give a much fuller interpretation of collections than we did previously."