Latest news with #NatEdwards
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Royal Armouries: UK's oldest museum sets out plan after £11m deal
After the Royal Armouries in Leeds secured an £11.69m government loan to purchase the land it stands on, director Nat Edwards spoke to the BBC about what the deal will mean for the museum."We pride ourselves on being the world's oldest museum," Mr Edwards said."We've been around since at least the early 14th Century, but for most of our history it was sitting in the Tower of London"This is the first time in 702 years that we've owned our own home."The Royal Armouries moved to Leeds from London in the 1990s as the anchor project in a scheme to regenerate what he said was then a "pretty grim, post-industrial" part of the and free to visit the museum features items from around the world, ranging from Henry VIII's armour to James Bond's Walther Edwards, director general and master of the Armouries, said as well as securing a home for the vast array of historical exhibits the deal would also provide a springboard for the museum's said a major part of their future plans for the site included the development of the tiltyard site, which is used for jousting matches and displays, into a multipurpose riverside arts, events and conference space."[We want] to really develop that site into something that can do not just the jousting, but lots of other things too," he museum is also planning a major refresh of its exhibition galleries, to bring in the latest in terms of digital technology. The Royal Armouries principal function is to maintain the national collection of arms and Edwards said that meant "making it accessible to everybody, for free and forever".He said the museum had been good at building commercial relationships on the land it currently occupies and has created a major conference and meetings special exhibitions and its jousting displays, he said these helped to generate income to support its work. In terms of the wider site the museum has acquired around Leeds Dock, Mr Edwards said they had been approached about "straightforward housing developments"."We are keen to support wider housing development in the south side of Leeds, but we think of the area around the Armouries as such an important public space we are keen to develop it very much with the public in mind."He said that would include an extended Armouries Square and a multi-purpose building on the tiltyard site with a flexible events are also looking at creating immersive spaces to help improve the educational experiences they offer to help students learn about life during conflicts."Imagine doing that in a space where you can recreate, using immersive technology, a battlefield experience and how much that could bring history to life," he said."That goes right through to the kind of work we are doing with the Ministry of Defence to help new recruits into the army better understand the realities of war." The Royal Armouries also works with the Border Force, the police and various intelligence services, some of which involves training AI systems to detect weapons in suitcase and working with the police to help mitigate the effects of 3D printed Edwards said the key to the museum's continuing success was developing these partnerships and creating the spaces and tools to collaborate on telling the story of "hundreds of years of human conflict.""[It is] a really important story that touches every life and we know we can't tell that story on our own."He said in the collection, as an example, were items which detail British colonial history in East Africa which, he said, can be displayed and tell a very interesting and educational story."But right now in the city we have people who have come from Sudan and have direct, lived experience of religious conflict and civil war and have a completely different perspective of those items."Mr Edwards said if you put those together you can tell a story which is "10 times more informative, ten times more powerful and has ten times the chance of perhaps helping people avoid conflict in the future."That's really what we are about." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
21-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Royal Armouries in £11m deal for Leeds waterfront site
The Royal Armouries museum in Leeds has bought the land it stands on for £11.69m and has unveiled plans to develop the city centre waterfront purchase of the freehold, funded by a government loan via the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, includes ownership of surrounding buildings at Leeds of the museum, which will mark its 30th anniversary next year, said the move would allow it to develop the dock area to include multi-use riverside arts, events and conference General Nat Edwards said the land deal "puts the organisation in a better position to drive future development for the benefit of Leeds". Making the announcement at the UK Real Estate, Investment & Infrastructure Forum, being held at the Armouries, Ms Edwards said it would generate almost £30m for the local economy."This £11.69m government loan for the Royal Armouries to purchase the land outright is an investment in the future," she explained."It gives the Royal Armouries full control over the museum site for the first time and puts the organisation in a better position to drive future development for the benefit of Leeds."With ownership of the land secured with a government-backed loan, the next step is to secure investment to substantially increase the capacity to grow conference, event and hotel capacity at Leeds Dock."Museums Minister Sir Chris Bryant added: "I'm delighted the Royal Armouries are moving ahead with this ambitious and exciting scheme."It will make much more long-term economic sense and enable one of our great museums, which families love, to visit to flourish long into the future." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
