Bath & North East Somerset Council’s project to reopen the Fashion Museum has been awarded £768,000 of initial support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Councillors Kevin Guy and Paul Roper outside the Old Post Office | Photo © B&NES Council
The money will be used to progress the development of the Fashion Museum at the Grade II listed Old Post Office in the centre of Bath.
The development funding will also help with plans to apply for a full National Lottery grant of £7.2 million next year.
Thanks to the money raised by National Lottery players, development funding will support the progress of designs for the new museum, along with an extensive community consultation, engagement and outreach activities programme with a range of audiences and partners.
Fashion Museum Bath holds one of the world’s leading collections of fashion. The collection is designated as one of outstanding significance, containing 100,000 items and spanning 400 years of human creativity, from 1600 to the present day.
It includes many of the best examples of fashionable dress in worldwide collections. It is the variety and extent of the collection, accessible in a single museum, that sets it out as rare and unusual on an international scale.
Funding from the Heritage Fund will transform access to the heritage collection, ensuring it continues to be researched, new stories and diverse voices uncovered, and lost skills rediscovered and shared.
An innovative digital programme will further enhance access, with the development of a new sustainable online catalogue making the collection available to audiences around the world.
The funding will also support the sustainable retrofit of the Old Post Office building. One of only a few listed 20th century buildings in central Bath, it will be restored, and repaired, turning it into a ‘Museum on the high street’.
Fashion Museum Bath is anticipated to reopen in 2030. During the development phase, there will be a programme of community driven talks and events, consultations, engagement and outreach activities with a range of audiences and partners across the district.
Councillor Paul Roper, cabinet member for economic & 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, supporting and facilitating the creative industries as well as providing a boost to the visitor economy on which the city relies.
The Old Post Office in Bath | Photo © B&NES Council
“The new museum is a key part of our plan to develop a creative centre in central Bath and provide a further boost to the visitor economy.
“As an anchor element of the Milsom Quarter Masterplan, the museum will enhance footfall and dwell time in the area and increase the desirability of the city centre”.
Stuart McLeod, director of England – London & South at 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.
“What stood out for us was how the project is looking to be at the forefront of sustainability, showing how heritage can adapt for the future.
“We’re looking forward to continuing to work with the team as they progress their plans to apply for a full National Lottery grant at a later date.”
Helen Godwin, the new Mayor of the West of England, said: “I’m delighted to see the Fashion Museum Bath project secure a development phase grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to take its next step forward.
“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. It will be another jewel in our crown in this part of the West, alongside iconic attractions like the Roman Baths and Jane Austen Centre, showcasing even more of our cultural and creative heritage; creating new jobs; and attracting more investment and visitors.”
