The much-anticipated planning application to relocate Bath’s Fashion Museum to the city’s Milsom Quarter has now been submitted.
The Old Post Office in Bath, which will become the new Fashion Museum
The site includes the Old Post Office building at 25-27 New Bond Street, the Regency terrace houses at 21, 23 and 24 New Bond Street and the courtyard behind.
Bath & North East Somerset Council’s heritage services department is seeking planning permission and listed building consent for the scheme, which is expected to cost up to £40 million.
External and internal alterations are proposed, and the scheme will see the loss of both 1,945 sq m of retail space and nine flats.
Fashion Museum Bath (FMB) is due to open in 2030 and will have double the floorspace of the former museum which was at the city’s Assembly Rooms for nearly 60 years.
The original collection was formed by the writer and dress historian Doris Langley Moore and gifted to the city in 1959. It has grown to more than 100,000 items, but the museum has been closed since 2022 since the National Trust took back the Assembly Rooms.
The world-class collection is currently being held at Dents at Warminster.
Flats 1-6 on the second floor of the Old Post Office and Flats 7-9 located at 23- 24 New Bond Street are said to be vacant and not in a good state of repair as they are damp.
The application says the proposed change of use of the flats will provide a more suitable future use as part of the new museum.
How the fashion museum could look | Image © B&NES Council
Retail floorspace will be lost within the Old Post Office, at 24 New Bond Street and the rear of 21 New Bond Street. The application says much of it is currently vacant. It notes that much of the current shopping frontage has limited openings and the change of use is not expected to result in any harmful impact to retail in the wider city centre.
The new museum aims to welcome 250,000 visitors each year. Two floors of galleries will showcase more of the collection than ever before, alongside exhibitions from other major museums.
A sweeping staircase and spacious lift will connect all levels. At street level, there will be a café and dedicated museum shop. A new courtyard building is proposed, which will provide adaptable spaces for learning, events and exhibitions.
The former yard will become a courtyard garden, bringing in natural light and fresh air. The museum will include new universal and accessible WCs and a Changing Places WC.
There has been wide consultation with stakeholders, amenity groups, local groups, and B&NES residents to help shape the proposals for the museum.
A statement with the application says: “The Fashion Museum Bath (FMB) will be the leading museum in the UK dedicated to the history and heritage of fashion. It will showcase more of the internationally renowned FMB collection than ever before.
“The FMB will welcome tourists and locals, be accessible, inclusive and with a strong focus on learning and skills. It will stimulate economic regeneration and be an exemplar of sustainable retrofit of a heritage building.
“The FMB holds one of the world’s leading collections of fashion from 1600 to the present day. It is a collection of outstanding national significance and has grown to over 100,000 items, with particular strength in European, especially British, fashionable dress and accessories.
“The project will create a new home for the collection in the centre of the UNESCO World Heritage City of Bath, repurposing the existing Grade II listed Old Post Office building and creating a new world-class museum in a highly sustainable location.”
The planning reference is 26/00101/REG03. The deadline for comments is 26th February.
