Historical small arms collection at Bait ar Rudaydah in Birkat al Mauz one of world’s best: Expert

Back in October 2012, the entire collection of small arms at the centre was shown to delegates who had come from around the world to the conference of the International Council for Museums of Arms and Military History (ICOMAM) held in Nizwa University.

The delegates vouched for the collection’s uniqueness and variety, said Dr Christopher Roads, who manages the centre at the Bait ar Rudaydah. Dr Roads, who is the president of the Historical Breechloading Small Arms Association of the UK, and a Home Office advisor on historical small arms, designed and executed the Bait ar Rudaydah displays between 2005 and 2009 and now, as managing director of Historic Arms, Exhibitions & Forts, is completing them.

The centre is being restored to its pristine state prior to opening it to the public next year, provided that the funding is forthcoming. “I started designing the Bait ar Rudaydah centre in 2004, at the request of Late H E Dr Rajha bint Abdulameer bin Ali, then Minister of Tourism. Over the years, I’ve been responsible for the design of more than 30 museums and archives worldwide, and I can say there is nothing like it anywhere in the world. I’m working closely with the Ministry of Tourism and other authorities to open it finally.

“It’s a collection aimed at the world, not just Oman though we have some fabulous Omani guns. We’ve got fantastic guns from the UK, Germany, France, America, and so on. The collection looks out to the world and there is not another collection here which does so. It should be a great draw to foreign visitors and Omanis.”