Nelson, Navy, Nation: The Story of the Royal Navy and the British People, is a permanent gallery about the navy during the 18th century, culminating in the battle of Trafalgar.
The exhibition is almost hidden away in the National Maritime Museum, part of Royal Museums Greenwich, sandwiched between older galleries on the second floor of the museum.
It progresses chronologically, although it is heavily themed around topics such as Joining Up, Rank and Responsibility, and Below Decks. The traditional oblong gallery space is broken up with displays, graphics and cases, providing a change of pace for visitors.
The interpretation is restrained and the museum has refrained from providing huge amounts of text on walls. Instead, they are used to display blown-up prints of period illustrations.
A maritime display normally requires worthy but dull ship models, but in Nelson, Navy, Nation they are used to complement the story, without boring the casual visitor. And although warfare and weapons are covered, it is not all ships and battles.
Rare 18th-century illustrations of Jack Tar, the ordinary seaman, are displayed, with glimpses into everyday lives onboard and on leave, with accompanying audio of sea shanties to get you in the mood.
Life may have been dangerous, but apparently Royal Navy sailors were better fed than the average worker at the time. My favourite object must be the ship’s biscuit, looking surprisingly like an over-sized digestive and none too bad for being 200 years old.
Naval officers, who only made up 1% of the crew of a ship of the line, have a prominent position in the gallery. Their high-status objects include furniture and the paintings that illustrated their homes and cabins.
Large oil paintings of notables such as Captain Bentinck can be found in side alcoves off the main gallery. These explore the lives of officers, and enable smaller objects to be intimately displayed while providing enough space to take in a six-foot painting. This gives you a feel for some of the officers who served and profited the nation.
The displays range from showcases featuring groups of small objects, including letters, prints and medals covering a single theme such as joining up, to large paintings of maritime scenes.
I liked the way Nicholas Pocock’s painting of Plymouth Dockyard was accompanied by a smaller topographical illustration indicating where the dry dock, ropery and saw pits were located, which is not necessarily obvious to the uninitiated.
The museum has attempted to keep visitors’ interest by varying the light and space, with enclosed darker areas emulating below-decks areas such as the captain’s cabin, and airy spaces with lit canvas-like ceilings mimicking the deck of a navy ship, with wood flooring adding to the effect.
New technology has been used although it rarely amounts to true interactivity. Images are projected onto walls and short films provide useful context about the navy’s interaction with the Georgian nation, touching on some of the darker aspects of the navy, such as discipline and punishment.
Traditional labels, which are clear with not too much text, are mostly legible, even in the low light areas.
The long timeline display in the middle of the exhibition takes us from the battle of Barfleur in 1692, depicting English and Dutch ships fighting the French, all the way through to 1805 with the battle of Trafalgar.
The timeline uses a variety of objects, including large paintings from the era and even a carronade (small cannon) encased in a plastic case mimicking a gun carriage.
Further along, a small seated area allows visitors to watch a short animated film exploring the symbiotic link between nation and navy. The wealth of 18th-century Britain depended on a growing overseas trade, which funded the navy.
Without the revenue from a growing empire, the navy could not be paid for and, without the navy, British trade could not be protected from piracy and rival powers.
The tone of the exhibition changes as we approach the age of Nelson as the displays focus on the dominant personality of the era, and the gallery moves from a social history of the navy populated with little-known commanders to become a celebrity show.
The great man himself has star billing and is lavished with prominent showcases containing his love letters, a lock of his hair, blood-soaked breeches and stockings and the jacket he wore when fatally wounded onboard the Victory. The final displays look at the nation mourning their hero, with a large case of Nelson memorabilia.
In the heart of the exhibition there is a large touchscreen monitor that allows visitors to explore some of Nelson’s key conflicts. The space that this monitor takes is a little wasted as you can only view the battles, albeit allowing the user to zoom in and out, but are unable to explore Nelson’s tactical genius.
What made him such a successful naval leader? The gallery does not really provide a clear explanation but, to be fair, the whole exhibition concentrates on the social history of the navy rather than a military history of naval conflicts.
The exhibition does allow the objects to come to life with restrained displays that provide a variety of interpretation methods that help visitors understand such a massive subject.
And the gallery succeeds in telling the story of the navy as well as the personal stories of the officers and ordinary sailors, while providing pride of place to the star of the show, Nelson.
Stephen Lowy is the curator at the Red House Museum, Winchester, Hampshire County Council, and a freelance museum consultant
The exhibition is almost hidden away in the National Maritime Museum, part of Royal Museums Greenwich, sandwiched between older galleries on the second floor of the museum.
It progresses chronologically, although it is heavily themed around topics such as Joining Up, Rank and Responsibility, and Below Decks. The traditional oblong gallery space is broken up with displays, graphics and cases, providing a change of pace for visitors.
The interpretation is restrained and the museum has refrained from providing huge amounts of text on walls. Instead, they are used to display blown-up prints of period illustrations.
A maritime display normally requires worthy but dull ship models, but in Nelson, Navy, Nation they are used to complement the story, without boring the casual visitor. And although warfare and weapons are covered, it is not all ships and battles.
Rare 18th-century illustrations of Jack Tar, the ordinary seaman, are displayed, with glimpses into everyday lives onboard and on leave, with accompanying audio of sea shanties to get you in the mood.
Life may have been dangerous, but apparently Royal Navy sailors were better fed than the average worker at the time. My favourite object must be the ship’s biscuit, looking surprisingly like an over-sized digestive and none too bad for being 200 years old.
Naval officers, who only made up 1% of the crew of a ship of the line, have a prominent position in the gallery. Their high-status objects include furniture and the paintings that illustrated their homes and cabins.
Large oil paintings of notables such as Captain Bentinck can be found in side alcoves off the main gallery. These explore the lives of officers, and enable smaller objects to be intimately displayed while providing enough space to take in a six-foot painting. This gives you a feel for some of the officers who served and profited the nation.
The displays range from showcases featuring groups of small objects, including letters, prints and medals covering a single theme such as joining up, to large paintings of maritime scenes.
I liked the way Nicholas Pocock’s painting of Plymouth Dockyard was accompanied by a smaller topographical illustration indicating where the dry dock, ropery and saw pits were located, which is not necessarily obvious to the uninitiated.
The museum has attempted to keep visitors’ interest by varying the light and space, with enclosed darker areas emulating below-decks areas such as the captain’s cabin, and airy spaces with lit canvas-like ceilings mimicking the deck of a navy ship, with wood flooring adding to the effect.
New technology has been used although it rarely amounts to true interactivity. Images are projected onto walls and short films provide useful context about the navy’s interaction with the Georgian nation, touching on some of the darker aspects of the navy, such as discipline and punishment.
Traditional labels, which are clear with not too much text, are mostly legible, even in the low light areas.
The long timeline display in the middle of the exhibition takes us from the battle of Barfleur in 1692, depicting English and Dutch ships fighting the French, all the way through to 1805 with the battle of Trafalgar.
The timeline uses a variety of objects, including large paintings from the era and even a carronade (small cannon) encased in a plastic case mimicking a gun carriage.
Further along, a small seated area allows visitors to watch a short animated film exploring the symbiotic link between nation and navy. The wealth of 18th-century Britain depended on a growing overseas trade, which funded the navy.
Without the revenue from a growing empire, the navy could not be paid for and, without the navy, British trade could not be protected from piracy and rival powers.
The tone of the exhibition changes as we approach the age of Nelson as the displays focus on the dominant personality of the era, and the gallery moves from a social history of the navy populated with little-known commanders to become a celebrity show.
The great man himself has star billing and is lavished with prominent showcases containing his love letters, a lock of his hair, blood-soaked breeches and stockings and the jacket he wore when fatally wounded onboard the Victory. The final displays look at the nation mourning their hero, with a large case of Nelson memorabilia.
In the heart of the exhibition there is a large touchscreen monitor that allows visitors to explore some of Nelson’s key conflicts. The space that this monitor takes is a little wasted as you can only view the battles, albeit allowing the user to zoom in and out, but are unable to explore Nelson’s tactical genius.
What made him such a successful naval leader? The gallery does not really provide a clear explanation but, to be fair, the whole exhibition concentrates on the social history of the navy rather than a military history of naval conflicts.
The exhibition does allow the objects to come to life with restrained displays that provide a variety of interpretation methods that help visitors understand such a massive subject.
And the gallery succeeds in telling the story of the navy as well as the personal stories of the officers and ordinary sailors, while providing pride of place to the star of the show, Nelson.
Stephen Lowy is the curator at the Red House Museum, Winchester, Hampshire County Council, and a freelance museum consultant
Project data
- Cost £1.75m
- Main funders The Wolfson Foundation; Clive Richards and Sylvia Richards; The Hobson Charity
- Exhibition design Casson Mann
- Graphic design Nick Bell Design
- Lighting design DHA Lighting
- AV software production Beakus; Clay Interactives; Nick Ryan Music
- Contract administration, quantity surveyor and CDM C Greenway Associates
- Exhibition strip-out and build The Hub
- Access consultant Jane Earnscliffe
- M&E consultant SVM
- Display cases Vitrinen und Glasbau Reier
