About
The Staffordshire Yeomanry Museum in Stafford celebrates over two centuries of distinguished service by the Staffordshire Yeomanry — one of the oldest and most storied of Britain's volunteer cavalry regiments, raised in 1794 in response to the threat of French revolutionary invasion and maintained through successive transformations to serve as a constituent regiment of the Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry to the present day. The museum documents the regiment's remarkable journey from mounted gentleman-volunteers riding their own horses to modern reservists serving in armoured vehicles, amphibious craft, and as part of complex multi-national operations across the world.
The Staffordshire Yeomanry was raised in 1794 under the County Lieutenancy Act passed in the aftermath of the French Revolution, when the threat of a republican invasion of Britain prompted the formation of loyal volunteer forces across the country. Staffordshire's wealthy landowners, farmers, and tradespeople formed the original troops — providing their own horses, uniforms, and equipment in a display of patriotic voluntarism that characterised the Yeomanry tradition. The regiment served in the domestic security role during the tumultuous years of the Napoleonic Wars and was called out repeatedly to assist the civil authorities during the social unrest that followed the end of hostilities in 1815.
The museum traces the regiment through its most testing periods of service: the Boer War (1899–1902), when Staffordshire Yeomanry squadrons served on the South African veldt; the Gallipoli campaign of 1915–16, where they fought as dismounted infantry in some of the most brutal conditions of the First World War; the mechanisation of the inter-war years, when horses gave way to armoured cars and tanks; the North African and Italian campaigns of the Second World War; and the post-war decades of Cold War service in Germany and successive operational deployments in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Through uniforms, medals, weapons, vehicles, photographs, and personal memorials, the museum brings the experience of the Staffordshire Yeoman — across all these eras and campaigns — to vivid life.
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Plan Your Visit
💡 Visitor Tips
- The museum is located within Whittington Barracks — bring photo ID and allow extra time for the security check-in process at the main gate.
- Telephone or email in advance to confirm opening times, as a military barracks schedule can occasionally affect public access.
- Combine with a visit to Lichfield (3 miles) — the cathedral, Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum, and historic city centre make for a full day of heritage.
- The National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas (7 miles north) is a deeply moving complement to the regiment museum's story of sacrifice and service.
- Veterans and serving personnel are especially welcome — the museum staff include retired Yeomanry soldiers who can provide first-hand perspective.
- Free parking is available within the barracks once you have cleared the security gate.
- There are no café facilities within the museum; refreshments are available in Lichfield or nearby Tamworth.
- Cadet organisations and military history societies can arrange specialist visits with regimental historians — contact the museum in advance.
Highlights
Foundation and the Napoleonic Threat — 1794
The museum's opening display traces the foundation of the Staffordshire Yeomanry in 1794 — a year in which the French Revolution's armies had already overrun the Austrian Netherlands and threatened the stability of Europe.
Under the County Lieutenancy Act, Staffordshire's Lieutenant-General called upon the county's gentlemen and substantial farmers to form mounted volunteer troops for local defence. The original recruits provided their own horses, sabres, and uniforms; their motivation was a mixture of patriotism, concern for social order, and the prestige that came with belonging to the county's cavalry force.
Early uniforms, sabres, and muster rolls bring the regiment's earliest days to life.
Gallipoli — The Dardanelles Campaign 1915–16
The regiment's most testing hour came during the Gallipoli campaign of 1915–16, when Staffordshire Yeomanry soldiers served as dismounted infantry on the Gallipoli Peninsula in conditions of extreme hardship and danger. Landed at Suvla Bay in August 1915 as part of the disastrously mismanaged amphibious operation designed to break the Dardanelles stalemate, the regiment suffered severe casualties from Turkish fire, disease, and the brutal Anatolian winter.
Diaries, letters, photographs, and personal effects from Gallipoli veterans document this defining episode in the regiment's history with great poignancy.
Medals and Honours
The museum's medal collection spans the full history of the regiment's service, from campaign medals of the Boer War to the decorated service of veterans of the Second World War, the Cold War, and modern operational deployments.
The collection includes several gallantry awards — Military Crosses, Distinguished Conduct Medals, and Mentions in Despatches — each accompanied by biographical information about the recipient. The accumulation of so many individual awards in one display gives powerful testimony to the collective courage and professionalism of the Staffordshire Yeomanry across its long service history.
Mechanisation — Horses to Armour
The inter-war transformation of cavalry regiments from mounted horsemen to armoured car and tank crews is one of the most dramatic changes in the history of the British Army, and the Staffordshire Yeomanry lived through this transition between the wars. The museum traces the regiment's mechanisation: the painful abandonment of the horses on which its identity was founded, the retraining of cavalry troopers as armoured vehicle commanders and drivers, and the acquisition of the armoured cars, light tanks, and eventually Crusader and Sherman tanks with which the regiment served in the Second World War.
Collections
The Staffordshire Yeomanry Museum holds collections of uniforms, weapons, medals, equipment, photographs, documents, and personal effects relating to the history of the Staffordshire Yeomanry from 1794 to the present. The uniform collection spans the full period from early volunteer cavalry dress through Victorian hussar uniform to modern military dress, including several rare and complete examples of early nineteenth-century Yeomanry costume.
The medals collection encompasses campaign medals, gallantry awards, and long-service decorations from all major theatres of service.
Photographic archives document the regiment across all eras of service. The archive holds regimental orders, officers' diaries, casualty records, and administrative documents from the foundation to the present.
Two Centuries of Service
Main permanent exhibition tracing the history of the Staffordshire Yeomanry from its foundation in 1794 through the Boer War, the two World Wars, the Cold War, and modern operational deployments.
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.