The King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum is based within Lancaster City Museum.  The museum was opened in 1929 and the original collections were formed from historic items kept by the various battalions of the Regiment.  Some objects date back to the very early days of the Regiment in the late 17th Century.  In the 1930s a sizeable collection of objects, archives, books and photographs was built up. For more information on the collection visit http://www.kingsownmuseum.com/ 

Above, Soldiers of the Regiment with their cycles in North Africa during the Second World War.

About the Museum

During the Second World War the museum was closed and the collections were based in a store, while the building (the former Lancaster Town Hall) was used by the Canadian Treasury.  From the 1950s the museum continued to expand its collections, until the 1980s when even more rapid growth took place. The lower floor of the gallery tells the history of the Regiment from the 1660s to the 1960s, including a unique captain’s uniform from the 1760s – the oldest, most complete, British army uniform in the world.

Today, the museum team and Trustees are looking to address aspects of the colonial era legacy of the regiment. An exciting new project, funded through the Heritage Lottery, is currently researching and recording objects taken during the Abyssinian campaign in 1868. You can read more about this work below.

Facilities

Please be aware that our stairlift does not currently work. We are working on getting a replacement as soon as possible. We are really sorry but this means that the King’s Own galleries are currently not accessible to anyone unable to climb two flights of stairs.

• There are no public toilets available on site. The closest public toilets are located in the Marketgate Shopping Centre.
• As we do not have public toilets, we also do not have baby-changing facilities on site.
• Only assistance dogs are permitted in the museum. This is because even well-behaved dogs are curious, and they sometimes need the loo. We can’t risk it for the sake of our fragile museum objects, which might get knocked over by a very waggy tail, and other visitors who may be nervous around dogs.

Opening Times

Last admission to the upstairs galleries is at 15:30. Visitors arriving after this will be able to visit the museum shop and the ground floor temporary exhibition galleries only.

Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Please check the web pages for our other museums to see their opening days and times, as each museum is different.

Admission Charges

Admission to the King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum is Free, though donations are appreciated.

There are donation boxes for cash in the museum shop – or we’ll be happy to put card donations through the till!

Contact Us

Please be aware that the museum does not have a full-time team to respond to enquiries on a regular basis. If you send us an email please be aware that it may take a little while for us to get back to you, but we will do so as quickly as possible.  If you are enquiring regarding research, such as asking for information about a specific soldier or campaign, please click on the Regimental Research Enquiry tab below.

Thank you

Kingsown@lancaster.gov.uk

Projects and News