The National Horseracing Museum (NHRM) is a museum in

Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk (district), West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, 14 miles west of Bury St Edmunds and 14 miles northeast of Cambridge. In 2021, it had a population of 16,772. It is a global ...

dedicated to the history of horseracing. It covers a 5-acre site on Palace Street in the centre of the town, having previously been housed in the

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree Racecourse, Aintree, Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom ...

Rooms on Newmarket High Street. Together with the British Sporting Art Trust and

Retraining of Racehorses Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) is a national animal welfare organization in the United Kingdom. It was established by the British Horseracing Authority in 2000 and is a registered charity under English and Scottish law. It is the official charity ...

it is part of the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing & Sporting Art which was opened by

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 2016.

History

When the Subscription Rooms of the Jockey Club closed in 1981, Jockey Club handicapper Major David Swannell decided it would be the ideal place to set up a national horseracing museum. The museum was opened on 30 April 1983 by

. A statue of 1933

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, more commonly known as the Derby and sometimes referred to as the Epsom Derby, is a Group races, Group 1 flat Horse racing, horse race in England open to three-year-old Colt (horse), colts and Filly, fillies. It is run at Ep ...

winner Hyperion stood in the entrance to the museum on Newmarket High Street. In 2016 the National Horseracing Museum, together with the British Sporting Art Trust and Retraining of Racehorses, moved to their current premises on the remains of the sporting palace of Charles II on Palace Street. The three charities combined to form the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing & Sporting Art, which was opened by Elizabeth II on 3 November 2016. The Palace Street premises occupy the site of the Newmarket palace and stables of Charles II. Only Palace House remains of the original palace, the rest having been demolished after

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

sold the property to

Mayer Amschel de Rothschild Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (29 June 1818 – 6 February 1874) was an English businessman and politician of the English branch of the Rothschild family. He was the fourth and youngest son of Hannah (Barent-Cohen) and Nathan Mayer Rothsch ...

in 1857. The stables of Charles II on the opposite side of Palace Street were also demolished to make way for the Trainer's House and new stables called the King's Yard Stables. In 1874 the property was inherited by

Leopold de Rothschild Leopold de Rothschild (22 November 1845 – 29 May 1917) was a British banker, thoroughbred race horse breeder, and a member of the prominent Rothschild family. Biography Early life Leopold de Rothschild was the third son and youngest of t ...

, who in 1903 built the Rothschild Yard and Stables adjacent to the King's Yard Stables. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Palace House was used to house Jewish refugees. The Palace House estate remained in the hands of the

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...

until 1985, when it was sold by Leopold's grandson Sir

Evelyn de Rothschild Sir Evelyn Robert Adrian de Rothschild (29 August 1931 – 7 November 2022) was a British financier and a member of the Rothschild family. Early life Evelyn de Rothschild was born on 29 August 1931, to a Jewish family. The son of Anthony Gu ...

. The new owners let the buildings fall into disrepair, and in 1992

Forest Heath District Council A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

acquired the estate with a

compulsory purchase order A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for ...

. Palace House was restored with support from the

National Lottery Heritage Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

and

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

and was used as a civic building. In 2005 Forest Heath District Council and the National Horseracing Museum set up the Home of Horseracing Trust to raise funds for the new centre at Palace Street. The Trust was wound up in 2020 after the completion of the project, with the new museum having opened in 2016. In May 2024,

Queen Camilla Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. Camilla was raised in East ...

became patron of the museum, succeeding Queen Elizabeth II.

Collections and displays

The museum's collections and displays are housed in the Trainer's House and King's Yard Stables. Exhibits relate to the history and science of horse racing and include paintings, jockey silks worn by

Lester Piggott Lester Keith Piggott (5 November 1935 – 29 May 2022) was an English professional jockey and horse trainer. With 4,493 career flat racing wins in Britain, including a record nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the grea ...

and

Frankie Dettori Lanfranco "Frankie" Dettori (; born 15 December 1970), is an Italian jockey who was based in England for a career spanning over 35 years. He was British flat racing Champion Jockey three times (1994, 1995 and 2004) and rode the winners of 287 ...

, a racehorse simulator which visitors can try out, and other racing memorabilia. There is also a gift shop and second-hand bookshop in the Trainer's House, and a cafe and restaurant and statue of

Frankel Frankel is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Benjamin Frankel (1906–1973), British composer * Bethenny Frankel (born 1970), American chef and reality television personality * Charles Frankel (1917–1975), American philoso ...

in the courtyard.

The British Sporting Art Trust

Palace House, the only remaining part of the palace of Charles II, is home to the Fred Packard Museum and Galleries of British Sporting Art, as well as the offices of the British Sporting Art Trust. Equine artists represented in the collection include

George Stubbs George Stubbs (25 August 1724 – 10 July 1806) was an English painter, best known for his paintings of horses. Self-trained, Stubbs learnt his skills independently from other great artists of the 18th century such as Joshua Reynolds and Thoma ...

Sir Alfred Munnings Sir Alfred James Munnings, (8 October 1878 – 17 July 1959) is known as having been one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken critic of Modernism. Engaged by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund after the Grea ...

and

Lucy Kemp-Welch Lucy Elizabeth Kemp-Welch (20 June 1869 – 27 November 1958) was a British artist and teacher who specialized in painting horses. Though increasingly overlooked after the Second World War, from the late 1890s to the mid-1920s she was one o ...

. As well as paintings, the galleries display prints, sculpture, and everyday objects.

Retraining of Racehorses

The Rothschild Yard in the grounds of the museum is home to Retraining of Racehorses and houses displays about the charity's work. Stabling and paddocks are provided for several retired racehorses who are temporary residents of the yard while they undergo retraining. There are twice-daily tours of the grounds, where visitors can see the forge, the horse-walker and the paddocks, and also watch the horses being schooled in the

Peter O'Sullevan Sir Peter O'Sullevan (3 March 1918 – 29 July 2015) was an Irish-British horse racing commentator for the BBC, and a correspondent for the Press Association, the ''Daily Express'', and ''Today''. He was the BBC's leading horse racing commen ...

arena. Several times a year the Peter O'Sullevan arena hosts displays such as horseball and horseback falconry (both featuring retired racehorses) and Suffolk Punch horses.

Awards

In 2017 the museum was one of five finalists for the Art Fund Museum of the Year. In 2020 the museum won the small visitor attraction of the year category in the

East Anglian Daily Times The ''East Anglian Daily Times'' is a British local newspaper for Suffolk and Essex, based in Ipswich. History The newspaper began publication on 13 October 1874, incorporating the ''Ipswich Express'', which had been published since 13 August ...

Norfolk and Suffolk Tourism Awards. In 2022 the museum was a highly commended runner-up in the large museum category at the Suffolk Museum of the Year Awards.

References