Stratford Armouries to re-open next year say new owners
The new owners of Stratford Armouries have quashed speculation that the museum has permanently closed, revealing their intention to re-open the attraction next year.
The Stratford Armouries site has recently been acquired by a company called Darwin Escapes, who have begun construction of a holiday park on land within the wider Stratford Armouries site.
The museum itself has been temporarily closed throughout 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic but some have suggested to the Herald it was unlikely to re-open.
However when approached by the Herald last week, Darwin confirmed that the museum is expected to re-open next year, with plans to enhance the exhibits on show.
A spokesperson from Darwin said: “Darwin has only recently acquired ownership of the Stratford Armouries Museum, which was closed temporarily by its previous owners earlier this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Our team are working hard to ensure that we can re-open the museum safely and are aiming to make some minor alterations to the layout, including reconfiguring the entrance and exits, to allow a safe flow of visitors through the museum.
“We are also looking into ways in which we can improve the museum and visitor experience further and have already engaged with groups who have loaned artefacts to the museum so that we can enhance the exhibitions. Our alteration plans will include an improved security system to make this possible.
“The development programme which is now underway to add lodges at Stratford Armouries means that it is not currently safe for visitors to access the site, so we will carry out the alterations to the museum whilst this work is ongoing and our aim is to re-open the museum when the lodge resort opens. We hope this will be in early Summer 2021, but this is of course dependent on whether the construction is impacted by any Covid related lockdowns or supply issues.
“We hope that local residents will understand the reasons for the ongoing temporary closure of the museum but would like to reassure them that the museum will re-open next year, with visitor safety at the forefront and with what we hope will be an improved overall visitor experience.”
Stratford Armouries opened in 2006 and has hosted the Convoy for Heroes Land Rover display, which raises money for Help for Heroes, as well as other charity events.
The museum houses a collection of artifacts associated with Winston Churchill, formerly housed at Bletchley Park.