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ONWARD WE GO ... AGAIN! We're marching on, we're marching on... The Heritage Centre is moving again, and by the time you read this, we will probably have moved temporarily to the William Booth College, with most of the staff of International Headquarters, as part of the Queen Victoria Street redevelopment
programme. For the time being, our postal address, e-mail address, and telephone numbers will not be changing, though of course if you are coming to visit us, you will need to come by bus or train to Denmark Hill.
The Heritage Centre will be based pro-tem in what is now called House 14, though some old plans of the Training College site suggest that it was originally the Women's Health Lodge. At present, no space has been allocated for the museum, so all the showcases and their contents, with all the reserve collection of uniforms, musical instruments and framed works of art, will be going into store until further notice.
Throughout its approximately 75 year history, the museum has had a peripatetic existence, moving on average about every 5 or 6 years. Some historical items were included in the Salvation Army displays at the British Empire Exhibitions at Wembley in 1924/5, and afterwards a museum was established at International Headquarters, though the precise opening date is unknown. The museum moved to the Central Institute at Clapton Congress Hall in 1931, and then to Judd Street in 1934. During the Second World War, most of the items were stored for several years at Sandridge (near
St.Albans) before returning to Judd Street for storage after the war ended.
In 1951, the museum was set up at Clapton Congress Hall from June to October as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations, but afterwards the museum items were returned to Judd Street for a further period in store, before being transferred to the Training College in 1959. In the following year, a new museum was opened at Clapton Congress Hall and enjoyed a decade of uninterrupted existence, until the closure of Clapton Congress Hall in 1970 again necessitated its relocation. A new 'permanent exhibition', entitled "The Salvation Army Story", opened in Judd Street in 1974, but like its predecessors, its permanence was not assured, as in its turn it closed in 1987, before being incorporated in the new International Heritage
Centre, which opened at Judd Street in 1988.
The International Heritage Centre at Judd Street brought together the museum with the library and archives which had been established by
Lieut-Colonel Cyril Barnes at International Headquarters in 1979. After 11 years at Judd Street, the Heritage Centre moved to Queen Victoria Street in August 1999, as part of a major redistribution of Headquarters' office space in London, and now, two years later, we find ourselves on the move again. We do not expect to be returning to Queen Victoria Street after the redevelopment but our future destination is still unknown. Further information about our movements and our services will be posted on our website in the coming months:
http://www.salvationarmy.org/history
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