Royal Architectural Museum (London, England)

The Royal Architectural Museum (RAM) was established in 1851, under the name of the Architectural Museum, by a group of architectural professionals led by George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878). Its founding members included such notable figures as Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) and George Godwin (1813-1888), with Thomas Philip de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey (1781-1859) as President and Alexander J. B. Beresford-Hope (1820-1870) as a trustee. The museum was formed for the purpose of improving the education of architectural art-workers and was considered by its founders as constituting the nucleus of a national museum of architecture. Its collections were made up primarily of plaster casts of European gothic architectural ornament, together with original examples of decorative ironwork, tiles, woodcarving, sculptural stonework, stained glass and architectural models, plans and drawings. The museum's first home was in Canon Row, Westminster, London where, from 1852 until 1854, it incorporated a School for Art-workmen. Under the patronage of Prince Albert (1819-1861) and with the backing of John Ruskin (1819-1900), the museum expanded rapidly and in 1857 moved to the new South Kensington Museum (now Victoria and Albert Museum), where it retained its independent status and name. Following disputes with the South Kensington Museum authorities, the Architectural Museum purchased the lease on numbers 18-20, Bowling Street, Westminster, London (re-named Tufton Street in 1870), where it erected a museum building designed by members Ewan Christian (1814-1895) and Joseph Clarke ([c. 1819]-1888). On the museum's re-opening in July 1869, patronage was renewed by Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and permission granted for the title 'Royal' to be appended to the museum name. The collections continued to grow rapidly and at the publication of a catalogue in 1876 holdings totalled in excess of 6000 items. On Scott's death in 1878, leadership of the Museum passed to the architect, John P. Seddon (1827-1906), who worked to establish closer links with contemporary firms of art workers. In 1870 a School of Architectural Art was opened within the Museum, administered jointly by the RAM, the Architectural Association (AA) and the Royal Institute of British Architects. By 1873 the RAM was the sole administrator of the school and by 1875 had managed to obtain Government funding - the name of the school being changed to the Westminster School of Art (WSA) by 1888. The RAM and WSA were subsequently jointly registered as an incorporated company on 27 December 1893. In 1904 the RAM was wound up and its premises and collections passed to the AA, who continued to operate the Museum's administrative, legal and curatorial functions under the RAM name. The AA's architecture school co-existed within the Museum buildings until 1915 when it was decided that conditions were too cramped. The premises were then sold to the National Lending Library for the Blind and the collections dispersed, primarily to the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), where a portion remain on display in the cast courts.