British Empire and Commonwealth Museum

British Empire and Commonwealth Museum
British Empire and Commonwealth Museum is located in Bristol
British Empire and Commonwealth Museum
Location within Bristol
Established2002
Dissolved2013
LocationBristol
Coordinates51°26′56″N 2°35′01″W / 51.4489°N 2.5835°W / 51.4489; -2.5835
DirectorGareth Griffiths (former)

The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum (grid reference ST597725) was a museum in Bristol, England, exploring the history of the British Empire and the effect of British colonial rule on the rest of the world. The museum opened in 2002 and entered voluntary liquidation in 2013.

The museum opened in 2002 in Bristol's historic old railway station, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, following renovation and conversion costing £8 million.[1] It was completed in 1840 and includes the passenger shed and the adjoining former engine and carriage shed. It is over 220 ft long (67 m) with timber and iron roof spans of 72 ft (22 m), this Grade I listed building[2] has been nominated as part of a World Heritage Site.[3]

The museum had a flourishing publications department, producing books on aspects of colonial life such as the history of the Northern Rhodesia Police, and a register of titles of the regiments of the Honourable East India Company and East Indian Armies. The museum also held the collection of artefacts of the Commonwealth Institute; extensive photograph stills, paper, film and oral history archives, and a costume collection. These are now in the care of Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives (apart from loans which were returned to their owners).[4]

The museum was also the home of the New World Tapestry.[5][6]

Unlike many national museums in Britain, the BECM was not publicly funded, but owned and operated by a charitable trust; consequently an admission charge was in place.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference museumsassociation-20110316 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Bristol Old Station, Temple Meads". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
  3. ^ "British Empire and Commonwealth Museum". English Heritage. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
  4. ^ "Bristol Museums Galleries Archives – British Empire and Commonwealth". Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  5. ^ "World's biggest tapestry on move". BBC News. 5 October 2003. Now the 39 million stitch tapestry, which was 23 years in the making.
  6. ^ "British Empire and Commonwealth Museum Bristol: Pow Wow – Special exhibition until 1st November 2006". Archived from the original on 4 May 2007. Pow Wow also features the stunning New World Tapestry. Created over 25 years in England's West Country and larger than the Bayeaux Tapestry, it presents a light-hearted history of the colonial period as well as providing a fascinating record of the people and plants that made possible Britain's first empire in America.