Bath museum plans to install stairlift to become fully accessible

The Museum of Bath at Work at Camden Works at Lansdown has plans to install a stairlift to make the building fully accessible.

The Museum of Bath at Work

Visitors who use a wheelchair or who have impaired mobility can currently see most of the museum displays which are on the ground and mezzanine floors as there is a wheelchair lift.

But because they cannot descend the main staircase, they are unable to access anything on the lower ground level.

Bath Industrial Heritage Trust Ltd is now seeking listed building consent from Bath & North East Somerset Council to install a Stannah stairlift to the main internal staircase which connects the lower ground floor to the ground floor.

The trust says that when visitors enter the building at the front (lower ground-floor level), they have to go up 15 steps to reach the ground-floor level.

“Wheelchair users and those with impaired mobility may access the building at the rear, using the emergency exit door, entering on ground-floor level. Visitors can then traverse the ground floor to reach the visitor reception area.

“From the ground floor to the mezzanine floor, there is a further flight of stairs, but here we have a Stannah wheelchair lift. Visitors who use a wheelchair or who have impaired mobility can therefore access the majority of the museum displays, which are on the ground and mezzanine floors.

“But, because they cannot descend the main staircase, they cannot access anything on the lower ground level – Hudson Gallery and stone mines exhibit, and library and archive room. We therefore cannot say that we are a fully disabled-accessible museum.”

The report says the restrictions affect employees and volunteers just as much as visitors.

“Like all small independent museums, we rely on our volunteer team to open each day, but the current lack of full access means that a potential volunteer may not be able to undertake some activities.”

It says the staircase can be “challenging” even for those with good mobility, for example if an individual has COPD or a similar condition. Lack of access also impacts anyone with temporary restricted physical such as a broken leg or a recent hip or knee replacement.

A grant from The Medlock Charitable Trust will cover all costs of purchase and installation.

The planning reference is 26/02795/LBA and any comments should be sent to the council before the deadline of 27th August.

History of the museum building

Constructed in 1777 as a real tennis court, the building that houses the museum is on a steep site off Julian Road.

Throughout the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, it had a range of public, business, and industrial uses.

By the mid-1970s it was in a derelict state, the last occupier having left in the late 1960s when the Ballance Street area was being redeveloped for new housing.

Bath City Council acquired it in the early 1970s and an application was made for conversion to nine townhouses as part of the Ballance Street scheme.

However, following pressure from heritage and conservation groups, the building was listed as Grade II in 1973 and the housing conversion scheme was withdrawn.

The building has been leased by Bath Industrial Heritage Trust since 1977.