Adjutant General's Corps
Regimental Association
 

The Museum of the Adjutant General's Corps is situated in the Guard House of Peninsula Barracks in Winchester and is open on Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and entrance is free.

The Museum staff can be contacted on ++44 (0)1962 877826

The AGC Museum is a Registered Charity Number 1075877

Before the formation of the Adjutant General's Corps in 1992, four of the Antecedent Corps had their own museum.  The Royal Army Pay Corps Museum was at Worthy Down, the Royal Army Educational Corps Museum was at Eltham Palace in West London, with some displays at Beaconsfield and the Women’s Royal Army Corps Museum was at Guildford.  The Royal Military Police Museum is still housed at Chichester. 

Following amalgamation in 1992 the Royal Army Pay Corps Museum remained at Worthy Down until 1993 at which point it was boxed and stored in a variety of places.  The Eltham Palace Museum closed but the Beaconsfield display remained in being.  These two displays have now been gifted by their Trustees to the Adjutant General’s Corps Museum Trust.

The Royal Military Police Museum at Chichester remains in being, but parts of the collection are incorporated into the AGC Museum.  The Military Provost Staff Corps has a small display, mainly for teaching purposes at Colchester, and elements of this enhance the AGC collection. The Army Legal Services does not have a collection as such, but efforts are being made to ensure that this important element of the Corps is fully represented in any future display. 

Unfortunately, the WRAC Museum was gifted to the National Army Museum and this made the task of putting together a combined museum a bit more difficult.  However, with the co-operation of the National Army Museum, artefacts were assembled so that the new Museum is representative of the complete Corps, past and present.

Challenges

The main problem about having a Corps Museum was the lack of suitable premises.  Various options were considered over the years since 1992: Chichester, Winchester, Aldershot or a ‘green field’ site somewhere.  For a number of reasons these options were dismissed with the exception of Winchester which was always the favourite because of its closeness to Worthy Down; the Corps enjoys the honour of having the Freedom of the City of Winchester.

In 2001, Serle’s House in Southgate Street in Winchester, a building owned by the MOD, was about to be sold and the Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum that had occupied the building was about to become homeless.  A feasibility study was conducted on using the Guard House of Peninsula Barracks as a possible new site and a draft refurbishment plan was prepared.  In the event, it was not needed as Hampshire County Council bought Serle’s House and the Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum was able to remain there.

This provided a window of opportunity for the Corps to obtain the old Guard House and a case was carefully put together.  After some negotiating, the proposal was accepted and the Peninsula Barracks Guardroom is now the site of the Adjutant General’s Corps Museum.  The refurbishment project to transform the Guardroom into a Museum has been beautifully carried out and the building has now being converted into a modern Museum.  The Corps commissioned the National Army Museum to carry out the design and the letting of the necessary Contracts to allow the conversion to take place.

Peninsula Barracks

Peninsula Barracks can trace its history back to Roman times and it has been a military place since the Middle Ages. A large part of the barracks has been sold and converted to prestigious residential property.  However, a number of the Victorian buildings have been retained as Military Museums.

There are four other Military Museums on the site and the AGC Museum includes a Visitor and Site Interpretation Centre.

Official Opening of the Adjutant General's Corps Museum

The AGC Museum was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen on Friday 21 November 2003.

Accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester, Her Majesty The Queen officially opened the new Adjutant General's Corps Museum in Peninsula Barracks in Winchester.  During the opening ceremony Her Majesty toured the newly refurbished building and spoke to many of those who were involved in the project. 

Friends of the Museum

The Museum receives some financial support from MOD, but running a museum is an expensive business and support is also needed from other sources.   The Friends of the Museum exists to help provide some of the additional financial help, through annual subscriptions.  If you wish to become a Friend of the Museum please download the following document that contains details of how you can help.

Friends of the Museum application form