Museum of… The Green Howards Museum, Richmond, North Yorkshire

Where

The museum is in the old Trinity Church in the centre of Richmond’s historic cobbled marketplace in North Yorkshire.

What

The museum covers three floors and is dedicated to the 300-year history of the Green Howards regiment. The top floor holds the earliest objects, which date from the raising of the regiment in 1688. Special exhibitions occupy most of the ground-floor gallery.

Collection

In the past 12 months, more than 400 objects from 48 sources have been added to the collection, including uniforms, medals, letters, photographs and diaries.

“We hold the only Victoria Cross awarded in Normandy on 6 June 1944,” says Zoë Utley, the museum’s head of collections. “Eighteen members of the regiment were awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for bravery, and the museum has 15 of them. They’re kept in the medal room, along with another 5,000 medals.”

The uniform collection covers the late-1780s to the present day. “A popular object is the battle-scarred helmet worn by Victoria Cross-recipient Donald Bell during world war one,” says Utley. “A small key, a roughly cut piece of carpet, and a piece of marble from Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s command bunker also feature in our world war two displays.”

Highlights

Visitors love soldier stories. “We place a soldier’s service into the context of their life,” Utley says. “Many of them were thrust into situations they did not choose and it’s important to document their actions for a modern audience.”

Help at hand

Thirteen volunteers transcribe, research, digitise and create display mounts for fundraising events. “We’ve researched Green Howard soldiers who served at D-day. We’re also working in partnership with Richmond Town Council by researching their collections, which are on display within the museum.”

Budget

Money from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, charitable trusts and private donors ensured that the museum was completely redeveloped in 2014. The admission fee is £7, but it’s free for under 10s and members of the Yorkshire Regiment, an often-used alternative name for the Green Howards.

Sticky moment

The museum adopted an emergency plan after the devastation of Storm Babet in October 2023. “Local tradespeople and heritage specialists responded, offering advice and practical help to ensure the museum team were able to minimise the impact of water damage,” Utley says.

Survival tips

“Planning ahead is important,” says Utley. “We work with the donations from soldiers’ families as these fit in perfectly with our current exhibition.”

Visitors

About 8,000 a year.

Future plans

It’s the 80th anniversary of D-day in June and a special exhibition will focus on the soldiers who were part of those historic events during the second world war. The museum will also present Connected, a special display showcasing the links between the regiment and the Richmond community.

Lynsey Ford is a freelance journalist