The Pattern Room collection was moved to Nottingham in 1989, when the Enfield site was closed. It was finally re-unified with the rest of the Royal Armouries firearms collection (from the Tower of London) in 2005, when it was gifted by the MOD (Ministry of Defence) upon closure of the Nottingham site. At the closing of the Nottingham facility, anything over one half inch, other than the shoulder fired units and small mortars, was sent to the Royal Armouries facility at Fort Nelson in the South.
Fort Nelson is the cannon museum, and they have a new section designed to showcase the Pattern Room additions. Finally, the article relates the ultimate transfer of the Pattern Room objects to the only organisation able to offer a new home for the complete collection. The Royal Armouries Museum began its history along side the Pattern Room at the Tower of London, as a collection of specimen weapons in the British military inventory.
The MOD's Pattern Room, the world's largest working collection of reference military small arms, dating back over 150 years, has begun a fresh lease of life with its new owners, the Royal Armouries. The collection moved again in 1989 and finally in 2005 it came to rest in Leeds as a part of the Royal Armouries collection. It comprises several thousand military firearms up to 40mm in bore size, designed in England and around the world.
It is no longer known as The Pattern Room Collection, but as The National Firearms Collection. More importantly, although the Royal Armouries is open to the public every day during regular opening hours, the NFC requires a specific appointment to see it. The main holdings are located in the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds and relate mainly to: Royal Armouries and its collection Arms and armour and related subjects, including a number of collections of personal papers of well known authors and collectors The Royal Small Arms Factory (Enfield) and the MOD Pattern Room Company records, such as G.E.
Lewis and Wilkinson Sword We also have important. Ministry of Defence Pattern Room and Small Arms Technical Information Centre to be Gifted to the Royal Armouries Museum The MoD Pattern Room is the world's largest working reference collection of military small arms from 1850 to current experimental, prototype and issue examples.
