Architectural plan for front elevation for Royal Albert Memorial Museum

Prince Albert’s death in 1861 led to calls for a local memorial in Devon. These resulted in plans for a building to house a museum, art gallery, library, art school and college. The building was named the Devon and Exeter Albert Memorial Institution.

In 1862, an architectural competition was launched to design the museum. John Hayward’s design, complete with RAMM’s distinctive façade, was the winner. In the plans, you can see museum galleries as well as classrooms, offices, a library and a reading room.

Visual description: a black-and-white architectural plan on a single page. The top third depicts a detailed illustration of the building’s façade. It is in Gothic Revival style. The middle and lower thirds depict architectural plans of the lower and upper floors. Thick black lines mark the edge of rooms, all of which are labelled.