The Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery and Designation Status
The Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM) is an award-winning world-class museum run by Exeter City Council. Opened to the public in 1868, it was built as a memorial to Prince Albert who was Queen Victoria’s consort and a patron of the arts and sciences.
Two of RAMM’s collections are Designated: World Cultures (1998), and George Montagu’s collection of land, freshwater and marine shells (2020).
RAMM’s World Cultures collection numbers some 12,000 artefacts, which originate from many parts of the world. Donors include explorers, mariners, soldiers, officers, missionaries, politicians, and collectors. Visitors to the gallery encounter ‘curios’ from several early voyages of discovery, artefacts largely collected during Britain’s growth as a colonial power, and contemporary commissioned artwork.
George Montagu (1753-1815) was a British naturalist and the first person to publish a comprehensive monograph on the molluscs of the British Isles (Testacea Britannica 1803, 1808). Before this, shells were treated as attractive collectibles rather than representing science. The collection at RAMM is the most intact and taxonomically important collection of British shells of the early 19th century anywhere in the UK. During his lifetime, Montagu described 199 mollusc species that he believed were new to science. Many of them are still valid species today and are distributed throughout the Mediterranean and further afield.
World Cultures
RAMM has been able to develop its Designated collections and to re-present its ethnographic collections in the World Cultures gallery using contemporary themes. A succession of funded projects: Discovering Worlds (Pacific 2014-16; Africa 2016-18) and Ancestral Voices (Americas 2021-23) re-presented these collections with fresh scholarship and conservation work to ensure their relevance to museum audiences. Over 1000 artefacts from this collection are now displayed to the public.
Funding for research and access to specialist knowledge has been key to better understanding the artefacts in RAMM’s care, and appropriately being able to inform visitors about historic indigenous heritage here in Exeter.
RAMM has been able to uncover new stories that connect Exeter and Devon residents to important global events. It is these connections that empower us to include multiple voices and perspectives in the interpretation, and to continue challenging the imbalance of cultural representation through engagement work. Without Designation, RAMM would not be able to develop its collection, public gallery and digital resources with new content.
Montagu
Researchers from around the world use Montagu’s type specimens at RAMM for taxonomic research. His collection may also include some of the earliest examples of ‘alien’ mollusc species arriving on British shores from the Caribbean via the ballast water of wrecked trade ships.
Work surrounding the Designation award included re-curation of the entire collection by an expert in both molluscan taxonomy and the history of conchology. His research is available in two open access papers. The entire collection, including images, is accessible RAMM’s Collections Explorer website and the type specimens are featured in the Mollusca Types in Britain and Ireland database. Designation has significantly raised the research profile of this unique collection.
Dr Julien Parsons, collections and content Manager, RAMM, said: “As a regional museum with world-class collections, Designation has been pivotal for RAMM. It’s allowed us to invite international scholars to research our collections, to undertake conservation and documentation programmes and deliver accessible and thought-provoking displays for our visitors.”
Dr Graham Oliver, Honorary Research Fellow, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, said: “The Montagu collection of shells plays a pivotal role in the historical and current understanding of the naming of British shells both terrestrial and marine. It has been a long-held view among researchers that collections of this significance will only be found in national or larger university museums. As a result, our regional and city museums often underestimate the potential of their natural history collections. Having the Montagu collection recognised under the Designation Scheme brings international attention to regional museum natural history collections.”
Jonathan Ablett, Senior Curator in Charge, Mollusca, Invertebrates Division, Natural History Museum, London, UK, said: “Regional museums across the UK contain unique and scientifically invaluable biological specimens which are vital for the classification and understanding of our global diversity and which can often be overlooked. The designation scheme highlights the importance of these collections increasing funding opportunities and ultimately making them visible not just for research but for the local communities they serve. The Mollusca collection at RAMM is a great example of such a collection whose importance has now been demonstrated in publications and whose specimens are cited in research projects worldwide.”
