An iconic Bath museum is planning a major renovation in order to host a new collection “of international repute”.
The Holburne Museum in Bath | Photo © John Wimperis
The Holburne Museum houses a collection of bronze sculptures, porcelain, silver, embroideries, and paintings in a Grade I listed Georgian building, which stands over the end of Great Pulteney Street and is familiar to fans of Bridgerton as Lady Danbury’s house.
The museum has applied to Bath and North East Somerset Council for listed building consent to create three new galleries through an internal renovation in order to house a new collection which is claimed to be of world-renown.
Director of the museum Dr Chris Stephens said: “We are excited to be working with a major private collector to create new gallery spaces to house their collection of Renaissance and other paintings, silver, sculpture, maiolica and other decorative objects.
“If we are successful in our plans, this will add three new galleries to the Holburne and significantly enhance the visitors’ experience, opening more of the building to public use as well as bring more art into the public realm, whilst raising the status and profile of the museum.”
A storage space and an archive will be combined into a new gallery underneath the cafe in the museum’s modern extension, and a storage space under the original building will be converted into a ceramics display space.
On the first floor, what is currently being used as an office will become a new gallery off the ballroom gallery. No changes are planned to the exterior of the building.
The collection was first formed by Sir William Holburn, a naval lieutenant who fought in the Battle of Trafalgar before turning to art collecting, but has been expanded since.
When it opened to the public in 1893, the Holburne Museum was Bath’s first public museum.
You can view and comment on the application here.
