Bath Fashion Museum secures funding for 2030 city centre reopening

Bath Fashion Museum has secured nearly £800,000 in National Lottery Heritage Fund money to help it reopen in Bath city centre by 2030.

The museum closed in 2022 when the National Trust took back the Assembly Rooms.

Bath and North East Somerset Council now plans to move the museum to the old post office opposite Waitrose.

A previous bid to the Levelling Up Fund failed last year, but the National Lottery Heritage Fund has now awarded £768,000 to develop and consult on new plans.

The museum will apply for a further £7.2m in 2025.

Paul Roper, council cabinet member for economic and cultural sustainable development, said: “We are thrilled to have received this initial support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

“Thanks to National Lottery players we can now further develop our plans to create our new Fashion Museum of national and international significance.

“This is going to be a new, world class institution in a UNESCO World Heritage City and there is huge excitement that, at long last, we will be able to display our unique and outstanding fashion collection in a location and setting that it fully deserves.”

The museum’s collection includes 100,000 items covering 400 years, from 1600 to the present day.

Since losing its space, the collection has been kept in a glove factory in Wiltshire, one of the few places with the right storage conditions, costing £150,000 a year.

Bringing the collection back to Bath is part of the council’s plan to regenerate the Milson Quarter and support local tourism.

Plans include a digital catalogue to make the collection available online.

Stuart McLeod of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We're pleased to offer our initial support to this transformational project that will give Fashion Museum Bath a home in the city’s historic centre.

“Not only does this mean a Grade II listed building will be brought back to life, but also a globally significant collection will be accessible to everyone, both in person and digitally.”

West of England Mayor Helen Godwin said: “This follows the multimillion pound commitment from the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority to the wider Milsom Quarter regeneration in the heart of Bath, working with the council.

“Fashion Museum Bath will be part of a bright new chapter for our region.”