The National Museum of Bermuda is located within the Keep at the Royal Naval Dockyard. The Keep is Bermuda’s largest fortification and part of the wider defences that once encircled the naval base. Across 16 acres, its ramparts, bastions, historic buildings and former ammunition stores reflect Bermuda’s strategic role in the Atlantic.

Construction of the Royal Naval Dockyard began after Britain lost its American colonies in 1783. Work involved local free and enslaved labourers, captured French Caribbean enslaved people and, from 1824 to 1863, thousands of British convicts.

Today, these once-military spaces house exhibitions, collections and over 500 years of Bermuda’s history.

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The Keep Pond Terrace

This enclosed waterway allowed ordnance to be moved from ships in Grassy Bay to secure storage buildings inside the Keep while vessels were repaired or refitted. Today, it is home to Dolphin Quest.

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The Shifting Houses

The Shifting Houses were the buildings into which guns, powder, and shot were ‘shifted’ from ships waiting to be repaired, refitted, or supplied by the Dockyard.

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1837 Shifting House

The first ordnance building completed within the Keep, the Shifting House temporarily stored small arms, gunpowder and other materials removed from ships. Bronze fittings and wooden-pegged floors helped prevent sparks. The building is planned as the Museum’s future Learning Centre.

Shifting House Office

This small building was the office for the staff responsible for the safe storage of ships’ ordnance. It now contains the Museum Playhouse.

1849 Shifting House

Built beside the Keep Pond, this two-room magazine has a strong bitumen-coated floor, suggesting that it was designed to hold heavier equipment or materials from ships undergoing maintenance.

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1850 Ordnance House “Queen’s Exhibition Hall”

This impressive powder magazine could store up to 4,860 kegs of gunpowder. Its vaulted ceiling, thick double walls, brass fittings, ventilated interior and non-sparking bitumen floor were designed to reduce the risks of bombardment, fire, explosion and damp. Marks left by the original gunpowder racks can still be seen in the floor.

Designed by Royal Engineer Francis Fowke, who later designed the Royal Albert Hall, the building now houses the Shipwrecked Island exhibition.

1852 Ordnance House

A smaller companion to the 1850 magazine, this building included spaces where workers could change clothing and repair powder barrels. It was later fitted to store more than 1,500 barrels of gunpowder. Today, it contains the Dolphin Quest guest check-in and gift shop.

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1853 Ordnance Building “The Boat Loft”

Construction began in 1853 but was interrupted by a yellow fever epidemic and the Crimean War. The upper storey was added around 1890, when the building served as a machine shop, offices and stores.

Today, visitors can explore exhibitions on local watercraft, fitted dinghies and the development of power.

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High Cave

This partially underground 1870s ammunition magazine was built beside a natural flooded cave. Separate rooms held shells and powder, while a protected light passage kept lantern flames away from explosive materials. The building now houses the Prisoners in Paradise exhibition.

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Commissioner’s House

World’s first cast iron residence.

Designed in 1822 by Royal Navy architect Edward Holl, Commissioner’s House was the first residential structure to use a cast-iron frame. Prefabricated components were made in Britain, shipped to Bermuda and combined with walls of hard Bermuda limestone.

Over time, the building served as a residence, administrative center, military barracks and naval establishment. During the Second World War, it was used as an Allied headquarters for North Atlantic submarine radio interception. After becoming derelict, it underwent a 25-year restoration and reopened in 2000.

Today, Commissioner’s House contains exhibitions exploring Bermuda’s defence, slavery, migration, tourism, family history, cultural connections and artistic heritage, including the spectacular Hall of History mural.

What’s Inside

  • Defence Heritage
  • The Slave Trade & Slavery in Bermuda
  • Azores & Bermuda
  • Bermuda & the West Indies
  • Destination Bermuda: History of Tourism
  • Hall of History
  • U505 Captured
  • Your Photographs, Your Objects, Your Stories, Our History

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Plan Your Visit

Take in breathtaking views, discover award-winning exhibits, and learn about Bermuda’s fascinating past. Find all the information you need to make your visit a successful one.

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