The Royal Albert Hall has brought its entire archive together for the first time in a single secure, fire-proof, climate-controlled location, complete with a new reading room.

It is open to historians, researchers and members of the public by appointment.

The archive tells the story of the venue from its inception in the 1850s to the present day, and consists of tens of thousands of items, with ephemera from almost every performance held at the Hall during its 152-year history including a trumpet from the opening ceremony, and costumes from the 1930s performances of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Hiawatha.

royalalberthall.com