21 August 2026
- 15:00 to 16:00
Tour
British Sign Language tour of Revolution 250: America’s Independence Story 1763-1783
Join us for a British Sign Language (BSL) led tour of our current exhibition ‘Revolution 250: America’s Independence Story 1763-1783'
- Date
- 21 to 22 August 2026
- Location
- The National Archives, Kew
2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the US Declaration of Independence and the emergence of the United States of America.
Discover the story of the American Revolution from a British point of view and how Britain understood, governed, and eventually relinquished its American colonies. The exhibition explores key political events and conflicts of the Revolution and their impact on everyone from rebels, British Loyalists to Indigenous nations, enslaved people and Black Loyalists.
The tour is open to all British Sign Language users.
About the tour guide:
John Wilson was born deaf. He is a freelance consultant working in the field of Deaf Arts and British Sign Language, with a wide range of experience as a deaf arts practitioner, a theatre and television actor, a creative signer, and a director of numerous productions ranging from devised performances to BSL translations of Shakespeare. His work as a sign poet and performer has been well received, and John has been part of several projects both in the UK and internationally to promote creative sign through the medium of BSL.
John works with a long list of major museums and galleries across the UK, including the Tate Galleries, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, National Maritime Museum, and the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. He leads BSL tours at London Zoo and is an accredited BSL guide at Hampton Court Palace and Highgate Cemetery. From 2017 to 2020 he was curator of a programme of BSL tours at the Royal Academy of Arts – the first profoundly deaf person to hold such a role. Likewise in 2020 he was the first profoundly deaf person appointed as External Examiner by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. John has also previously been a Trustee of the British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust which makes films and TV for the Deaf community in BSL.
Event details
- Dates
- 21 to 22 August 2026
- Price
-
£15
- Location
- Gallery
-
The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, TW9 4DU
- Part of series
- Revolution 250 season
Dates for this event
22 August 2026
- 10:00 to 11:00
Plan your visit
What is The National Archives?
The National Archives is the official archive of the UK government, and England and Wales. We are the guardians of over 1,000 years of iconic national documents.
Everyone is welcome to visit our headquarters in Kew. We put on exhibitions, events and displays and offer reading rooms giving access to our collections there.
Getting here
The National Archives is located by the River Thames in Kew, 30 minutes from Central London. We offer advice on travelling to us by car, bike, train or bus.
Group visits
Groups of ten people or more must book in advance, at least seven days before your visit.
We unfortunately cannot accept group bookings in the first and last two weeks the exhibition run.
Find out more about booking group visits and our exclusive entry packages for groups.
Audio tour
Visitors to Revolution 250 can listen to a free audio tour of the exhibition. Provided by the exhibition curators, it provides background context to the twenty-year story and objects on show.
To listen to the tour, either download the free Smartify app and search for 'The National Archives' or scan the QR codes at the exhibition entrance.
Accessibility
Everyone is welcome to visit this exhibition once it opens.
- There will be step-free level access throughout all areas
- The exhibition will have low lighting levels
- Large print guides will be available
Children and families
We provide a warm welcome to visitors of all ages, including children and family groups.
- Free activity sheets (for ages 1+) are available from the Time Travel Club trolley in our entrance hall
- Our café is child-friendly and there are picnic benches outside
- Prams and buggies are welcome, and we have a buggy park
- Baby changing facilities are located by our entrance hall, at the top of the main stairs, and in the library
- Emergency supplies of nappies and wipes are available
Eat and drink
We have a café and coffee bar provided by Maids of Honour, a historic local tea room and bakery. It has spacious indoor and outside seating and a soft play area.
On the menu is a variety of high-quality lunchtime meals, sandwiches, snacks, soft drinks, tea and coffee. Vegetarians, vegans and other dietary requirements are all catered to.
Conditions of entry
We kindly ask all exhibition visitors observe our exhibition conditions of entry:
- Do not bring bags of any size or coats into our Exhibition Gallery. You can store them in a locker in our cloakroom for free.
- Do not bring food and drink into our Exhibition Gallery.
- Do not use any form of flash when taking photographs.
- Do not conduct any filming, recording or commercial photography without obtaining our permission for filming and images.
Series
Revolution 250 season
Britain and America. One Story, Two Nations