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The Rifles (Berkshire and Wiltshire) Museum

Regimental museum in the medieval Wardrobe house in Salisbury Cathedral Close, telling the story of Berkshire and Wiltshire soldiers.

Opening hoursFree admission Café

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About the museum

The Wardrobe is a house in Salisbury Cathedral Close with more than 800 years of history. It was built as the residence of a canon of the cathedral and later served as an administrative centre and a private home. The name, first recorded in the sixteenth century, refers to its use as a storehouse.

The house is now the home of the regimental museum of the Royal Berkshire Regiment and the Wiltshire Regiment, formed in 1881 from the 49th, 66th, 62nd and 99th Regiments of Foot. The two county regiments were united in 1959 as the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment, merged with the Gloucestershire Regiment in 1994, and became part of The Rifles when that regiment was created in 2007.

The museum is run by the Rifles Wardrobe and Museum Trust and holds more than 65,000 objects, including uniforms, medals, weapons, photographs, documents and war diaries. After an eighteen-month redevelopment project the museum reopened in 2026 with three new permanent galleries, a shop and a space for temporary exhibitions. The displays follow soldiers from Berkshire and Wiltshire over more than 250 years under the theme of ordinary people showing extraordinary courage. The collection can also be searched online, and the museum offers research help to families tracing soldiers who served in these regiments. The house has a garden overlooking the River Avon and a cafe, and parts of the building can be hired for events.

Highlights

Three new permanent galleries opened in 2026
More than 65,000 objects
Regimental medals and uniforms
War diaries and soldier records
Medieval canon's house with riverside garden

Permanent exhibition

Permanent galleries – Three galleries on the soldiers of Berkshire and Wiltshire from the eighteenth century to the present, reopened in 2026.

Founded: 1982
Operated by: Rifles Wardrobe and Museum Trust

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Entry is by donation. Patron members (from 50 pounds a year) enter free with two guests.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

Family tours & workshops

Family events such as a living history festival and pumpkin carving are held during the year; the shop has a children's section.

Getting there & parking

By public transit

Park and Ride services operate around Salisbury but not on Sundays or bank holidays.

By car

No on-site parking at the museum.

No public parking at the museum. Limited paid parking in The Close (about 7 pounds a day); several city-centre car parks are less than ten minutes' walk away.

The museum is in the north-west corner of Cathedral Close.

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