Thiepval Visitor Centre & Museum, Somme Battlefields, France
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The Thiepval Visitor Centre, built in 2004, also incorporates the Thiepval Museum. The museum opened in June 2016 to mark the centenary of the 1916 Battle of the Somme. The Visitor Centre and Museum are located a short distance from the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme and the Thiepval Anglo-French Cemetery.
The Visitor Centre
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The idea for a visitor centre museum was first discussed at the annual ceremony of Remembrance on 1 July 1998. Sir Frank Sanderson led a small group in the campaign to build this educational centre. The Anglo-French project was brought to fruition with the help of generous donations to meet the British fundraising target of £660,000.
The Visitor Centre has been imaginatively constructed at ground level so that it does not impact as an obtrusive building on the local area around the Thiepval Memorial.
The Role of the Visitor Centre & Museum
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The Visitor Centre welcomes many thousands of visitors to the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing each year. At the Visitor Centre the memorial is put in the context of the battlefield. Display panels in three languages — English, French and German — provide an overview of the course of the Great War from 1914-1918.
Display panels focus on the events during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 which occurred at the small village of Thiepval and its surroundings.
Three films, each lasting approximately 10 minutes, have been specially compiled covering the subjects of Thiepval, The Battle of the Somme and Memory.
Thiepval Museum
The museum provides information, maps, photographs and audivisual experiences to help visitors understand the battles that took place in the Department of the Somme.
Thiepval Database Project
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In the entrance of the Visitor Centre a panel of 600 photographs represents the 72,000 men whose names are commemorated on the nearby Thiepval Memorial to the Missing.
As a Remembrance Project to honour and remember all of the men named on the Thiepval Memorial the collation of information about them has been ongoing since 2003.
If you have photographs of information on a soldier who is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing you are warmly invited to contact the Thiepval Database Project. See our page and contact details:
Pam and Ken Linge have published a book about their research into the men commemorated on this memorial, called Missing But Not Forgotten. See our link in Related Reading below.
Visitor Information
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Opening Hours
- Daily 1 March to 31 October: 09.30 to 18.00 hours
- Daily 1 November to end February: 09.30 to 17.00 hours
Winter annual closure
10 December 2018 to 22 January 2019.
Admission
Visitor Centre
Free admission
Museum
Admission charge
Facilities
- A well-stocked shop selling a wide range of books and maps related to the First World War and the battlefield of the Somme.
- Toilets.
- Vending machines for hot and cold drinks.
- Free parking for cars and coaches.
A leaflet and poster of the 600 soldiers in the “Panel of the Missing” is available to purchase.
To check dates and tariffs go to the website:
Website: www.historial.fr
Contact Information
Address: Thiepval Visitor Centre & Museum, Rue de l'Ancre, 80300 Thiepval, France
Telephone: +33 (0)3 22 74 65 44
Email: thiepval-accueil@historial.org
Website : www.historial.fr Thiepval Museum
Location
Latitude N 50° 3' 8.442" ; Longitude E 2° 41' 17.195"
Latitude: 50.052345; Longitude: 2.688110
The Thiepval Visitor Centre & Museum is located close to the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing. It can be reached from the D929 main road from Albert to Bapaume. In the village of Pozières on the D929 the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing is signposted. Driving south from Bapaume it will be signposted to the right to Thiepval on the D73. Driving north from Albert it will be signposted to the left to Thiepval on the D73.
The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing is a short distance from the Visitor Centre & Museum.
Related Reading
Missing but Not Forgotten: Men of the Thiepval Memorial - Somme [hardcover]
by Ken Linge and Pam Linge
This excellent book is published after more than 10 years of dedicated research into the men commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing. Ken and Pam Linge are behind the Thiepval Database Project and have been collecting biographical information on the missing men since 2003. 288 pages. Published by Pen & Sword Military (2 Sept 2015), ISBN-10: 1473823587; ISBN-13: 978-1473823587
Related Link
Building the Visitor Centre
For information about the origins of the Anglo-French project to build the Visitor Centre see:
Website: www.thiepval.org.uk
Related Topic
Thiepval Memorial and Anglo-French Cemetery
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The memorial and cemetery are located a short distance from the Thiepval Visitor Centre:
