National Collections Centre, Museum storage facility in Wroughton, England.
The National Collections Centre is a museum storage facility on the grounds of a former RAF airfield near Wroughton, England, holding objects from the Science Museum Group collection. The site is made up of several large hangars and support buildings that have been converted into conservation laboratories, research areas, and photography studios.
The Science Museum took over the former RAF Wroughton airfield in 1979 to store large objects that could not be kept in its London buildings. In 2007, the museum's library archives were moved to the site, which turned it into a key location for both physical objects and documentary records.
Some of the largest objects in the collection are stored here, including historic aircraft that would not fit inside a standard museum building. Visitors who come for research can see how oversized scientific instruments and vehicles are kept in working order over time.
This is not a public museum, so any visit needs to be arranged in advance, usually for research purposes. The site is located outside the village of Wroughton, and arriving by car is the most practical option.
One of Britain's largest solar farms was built on the former runway area and helps power the site. The grounds also border areas of woodland where various birds and bats can be spotted, giving the place a double life as a nature area alongside its storage function.
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