Educational
What’s there
- Free parking
Free on-site car parking at Priddy's Hard, per the operator's visitor FAQ.
Only facilities we’ve confirmed are listed — anything missing here we simply haven’t checked, rather than know to be absent.
Explosion is a hands-on museum of naval weapons, formerly known as Explosion! Museum of Naval Firepower, housed in the historic buildings of the former Royal Navy armaments depot at Priddy's Hard on the Gosport side of Portsmouth Harbour. Families can see real missiles, torpedoes, mines, guns and small arms, and walk through an original 18th-century powder store where a film show tells the story of naval warfare from gunpowder to modern systems. Younger visitors can take part in a dress-up challenge, and interactive touch screens carry archive footage and personal accounts from the people who handled the munitions, including the women who prepared weapons in the First World War. Its exhibitions also cover the Royal Navy's Coastal Forces. The museum is part of the Royal Navy museums group run from Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, and it pairs well with the other attractions there.
Stuff to take with you
The things people wish they’d packed for a day out like this one.
- Refillable water bottleMost places will fill it for free.
- Snacks that survive a rucksackCheaper than the café, and buys you twenty minutes.
- Wet wipes
- Small first aid kitPlasters solve more days out than anything else here.
- Blister plastersNew shoes and a long walk are a bad pairing.
- Portable phone charger
- Spare socksThe single most reliably useful thing on this list.
- Wet bagFor whatever comes home soaked.
- Hand sanitiser
- Spare batteries
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