Imperial Meeting

 ( Imperial Official Website ) 

The Imperial Meeting quickly gained significance in high society. In 1878, the society biographer and journalist Edward Walford wrote:

Key matches such as the Elcho were significant social occasions on par with the Boat Race. Shooters and officials were often household names, and featured or even caricatured in society publications such as Vanity Fair.

The association moved from Wimbledon to Bisley Camp in 1890 after housing development around Wimbledon caused concerns about the ongoing ability to safely operate the ranges.

The NRA and the Imperial Meeting heavily influenced the development of shooting sports around the world, particularly in the British Empire. The formation of the National Rifle Association of Australia was prompted in part by a desire amongst regional associations to send an Australian team to compete at Wimbledon. In 1897 the Dominion of Canada Rifle Association built a pavilion on Bisley Camp to accommodate the Canadian national team whilst competing at the meeting.

In the first half of the twentieth century, the meeting was extensively covered by newsreels including Pathé and Movietone News, resulting in an unusually rich heritage of archival footage.

1966 was the last meeting at which the Army provided personnel to mark targets and perform other duties. From 1967, the military operated their own Service competitions, with the Imperial Meeting itself being purely civilian - although many service personnel continued to compete in a private capacity.

The sport became significantly more civilian-oriented through the second half of the twentieth century. Where competitors had typically shot accurised military surplus rifles such as Lee–Enfields, dedicated target rifles such as the Swing rifle were developed, with the Swing becoming the first rifle not of a military design to win the Queen's Prize. The military models were increasingly consigned to specific service rifle and historic arms matches.

In 2019, the NRA celebrated the 150th Imperial Meeting (this was 159 years since 1860, as a result of the Meeting's cancellation during the World Wars).

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 meeting was postponed. However, wishing to keep intact the record of only being interrupted by two World Wars, a "miniature Imperial" was held in stages through September and October. This included the Queen's Prize, which featured a reduced number of finalists qualifying to allow wider spacing on the firing point for social distancing.