Bisley Camp and the National Rifle Association

Generally recognised as the main centre of rifle shooting Bisley Camp is also the home of the National Rifle Association.

The National Rifle Association was founded in 1859, originally to provide a focus for marksmanship for the newly formed corps of volunteers that had been raised to meet the perceived threat of invasion by the French.

The Whitworth rifle fired by Queen Victoria in 1860.
Courtesy of The National Rifle Association Museum.
Photograph by Brian Wood.

The Association organised the first set of competitions on Wimbledon Common in July 1860. Queen Victoria fired the first shot and gave a prize of £250 for the best individual marksman. This set the pattern for the Annual Meeting, held every year except during the two World Wars. The Queen’s Prize remains the premier award for the rifleman and the July Imperial Meeting is internationally famous.

Cover of Programme of Annual Prize Meeting, 1890.
Surrey History Centre 6227/2/20

The ranges were on Wimbledon Common from 1860 to 1889 and then at Bisley from 1890. The Princess of Wales, later Queen Alexandra, fired the first shot at the beginning of the 1890 Imperial Meeting at Bisley.

Bisley has hosted world championships, commonwealth games and Olympic shooting events.