The Royal Albert Hall is the 'world's most famous stage' and its archive collections are a unique culture, arts and science heritage resource. The Archive exists to collect, preserve and makes accessible the Hall’s history of performance, material about the iconic Grade 1 Listed building and the organisation itself.
The world's greatest musicians, dancers, sportsmen and statesmen have appeared at the Royal Albert Hall. The Archive is the guardian of the Hall's collective memory and is responsible for managing collections which include posters, handbills, posters, photographs, plans, prints, art works, administrative records, and ephemeral items such as tickets, leaflets and merchandising.
The collections include:
- Royal Albert Hall Events Collection (RAHE)
- 12,000 event programmes, posters, tickets, handbills, brochures, event schedules, bookings documents, souvenirs, reports, autographs, photographs and audio-visual recordings. Royal Albert Hall Collection (RAH)
- Royal Charter, building drawings and plans, photographs, official publications, committee minutes, Council records, press cuttings, ephemera, antiques, artworks and furniture. Queen’s Hall Collection (QH)
- Handbills and programmes from the former concert hall and Sir Henry Wood material. Charles Graham-Dixon Collection (CGD)
- 17th Century Dutch paintings by artists including Pieter de Hooch and Jacob van Ruisdael, bequeathed in 1985 by Charles Graham-Dixon, former Vice President of the Hall. Exhibition Catalogues Collection (EX)
- Catalogues, reports and prints from the 1851 Great Exhibition and 1862 International Exhibition.
- Victoria & Albert Collection (VA)
- Artworks and objects relating to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
The Archive also has a small amount of reference material relating to the Royal Albert Hall, neighbouring institutions and associated persons and organisations.