This summer, a series of drop-in events across the region will offer a first look at early-stage designs for the city’s relocated fashion museum and the reimagined public space around it.
Bath & North East Somerset Council wants residents and visitors to help shape the future of the new Fashion Museum Bath.
It will be located in the historic Grade II-listed Old Post Office building in the heart of Bath’s Milsom Quarter. One of only a few listed 20th century buildings in central Bath, it will be transformed, restored, and repaired, turning it into a ‘Museum on the high street’ – the ideal space to showcase more of its internationally renowned heritage Collection.
The new museum will champion fashion’s transformative power as a global industry and an expression of creativity, culture, and identity, bringing fashion to life for local and national audiences. It will be a space for learning and community — one that supports the creative industries by championing craft, skills, and future talent, and by creating pathways to jobs and opportunities.
Inside the museum, larger and fully accessible exhibition spaces will span two floors, with new learning and event spaces and a café and a shop. A courtyard garden at the centre of the building will be free and open to all, and will explore the connections between fashion and nature.
Outside, plans are also underway to transform the streets and public spaces around the museum, making them more welcoming and accessible. A new public square—featuring trees, seating, and space for events—will create a vibrant gathering place. These improvements will be supported by changes to transport and movement in the city centre, as set out in the Milsom Quarter Masterplan.
Thanks to a founding grant from the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority and development funding* from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Council is now moving forward with development plans and designs for both the museum and the public spaces around it and are keen to seek ideas from the public to help shape the museum’s best possible future.
Beginning in June, a series of drop-in events, open to all, will be held across Bath & North East Somerset. These events offer a unique opportunity for the community to explore the early-stage designs, take part in pilot learning and community activities, meet the project and design teams, and share ideas and feedback to help refine the museum’s plans.
Councillor Paul Roper, Cabinet Member for Economic & Cultural Sustainable Development, said:
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a world-leading museum in the heart of our beautiful UNESCO World Heritage city—and we want our communities to be part of that journey.
The new Fashion Museum Bath is a key part of the delivery of our Milsom Quarter Masterplan, which aims to transform this area into a vibrant destination for fashion, design, culture, and community life.
Thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, we’re now moving into the detailed phase of the project. We’re hosting activities and events in Bath City centre, Twerton, Somer Valley, Keynsham, and across the region, and we’re eager to hear from as many people as possible. Your ideas, insights, and feedback will play a vital role in shaping the future of the new Fashion Museum Bath and in reimagining the public spaces in this part of the city centre.”
How to get involved
In-Person Events:
Fashion Museum Bath and Place Shaping and Regeneration teams will host a series of drop-in events across Bath & North East Somerset this summer. These sessions are open, and everyone is welcome —no pre-registration required. Come along, preview early-stage designs, and share your thoughts at one of the following locations:
- Twerton Flower Show / 14 June, midday – 4 pm
- The Old Post Office*, 26 New Bond Street, Bath / 19 -22 June, midday – 6 pm
* Please note that there are a couple of steps up to the Old Post Office – a staff member will be on hand at the entrance to welcome people and will be able to put out a ramp if required, and there is an internal lift inside the building.
- Bath Central Library** / 27 June, 10 am – 4 pm
** This is a repeat of the Old Post Office event, in a fully accessible venue
- Midsomer Norton Library / 5 July, 10 am – 4 pm
- Keynsham Library / 10 July, 10 am – 4 pm
- Midsomer Norton Summer Fayre / 12 July, noon – 5 pm
- The Old Post Office*, 26 New Bond Street, Bath / 17 – 20 July, midday – 6 pm
- Old Printworks Arts, Radstock / 29 & 30 July, 10 am – 4 pm
Online:
For those unable to attend in person, information will also be available online. Visit www.fashionmuseum.co.uk to explore the plans and complete the survey to have your say.
Helen Godwin, the new Mayor of the West of England, said:
“Fashion Museum Bath will be a unique jewel in the crown of the Milsom Quarter regeneration in the historic centre of Bath, alongside nearby iconic attractions like the Roman Baths and Jane Austen Centre, backed by the Mayoral Combined Authority.
Local people will be at the heart of these exciting plans. I know that Bath & North East Somerset Council are looking forward to hearing everyone’s ideas and suggestions, and encouraging residents to come along to the drop-in events.
Together, we will showcase even more of our cultural and creative heritage, create new jobs, and attract more investment and visitors to beautiful Bath.”
About Fashion Museum Bath
Fashion Museum Bath will bring fashion to life for local and global audiences. It will be located in the Grade II-listed Old Post Office in the centre of the UNESCO World Heritage city of Bath. The Museum will champion fashion’s transformative power as a global industry and expression of creativity, culture and identity.
Saving world-class heritage, Fashion Museum Bath will be a catalyst for change, revitalising its Designated Collection in a new museum that will be an exemplar of environmentally sustainable retrofit in a listed building. The museum will inspire and challenge through fashion, exploring it as an art form and global industry, whilst celebrating the creativity of designers, makers, and wearers, and providing learning, skills, digital and wellbeing programmes.
Fashion Museum Bath will appeal to tourists and locals alike, driving socio-economic change and placemaking and supporting and facilitating the creative industries through championing craft, skills, learning & future talent, and creating pathways to jobs and opportunities. It will be a place of community and opportunity for fashion lovers, culture seekers, local audiences, the fashion industry and next generations. Additionally, it will support communities across the region with a range of programmes addressing barriers to access for people who are generally underserved by heritage. It will be a welcoming and accessible space for all.
The new museum will:
- Provide flexible exhibition spaces to display more of the internationally renowned Bath Fashion Museum Collection than ever before.
- Showcase a changing programme of exhibitions from our own Collection and other major museums.
- Reveal dedicated and accessible spaces for innovative learning and engagement, including lectures, workshops, events, school visits, and residencies.
- Offer café and retail areas.
- Offer commercial venue hire opportunities outside of core public hours.
- Support the creative industries by offering career pathways, talent development pipelines, and partnerships.
- Be an exciting and accessible welcoming space for all – the ‘Museum on the High Street’ is relevant for all ages and reduces barriers for those who have not engaged with heritage before.
- Establish a landmark cultural asset, free to local residents and uniting local, national and international communities through creative activities linked to fashion.
Fashion Museum Bath Collection: Fashion Museum Bath holds one of the world’s leading collections of fashion, spanning 400 years of human creativity, from 1600 to the present day. Founded in 1963 as the Museum of Costume, the original collection was gifted to the city of Bath by collector, writer, and dress historian Doris Langley Moore in 1959. Designated as a collection of outstanding national significance, it has since grown to 100,000 items, with strengths in European, especially British, fashionable dress and accessories. It also encompasses sketches, fashion magazines, fashion photography and designers’ archives.
The Collection 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.
The Old Post Office: The Old Post Office is one of only a few listed 20th-century buildings in the centre of Bath. The project will bring back to life this key heritage and civic building that has fallen into disrepair and will be designed as an exemplar of environmentally sustainable retrofit. The Old Post Office offers up to 3500 sqm of space for the Museum, a transformational change in scale to showcase more of the Collection.
Timings: It is anticipated that construction will start on site in 2027, and that the new museum will open in Autumn 2030.
Milsom Quarter Masterplan: The museum is a key part of Bath and North East Somerset Council’s regeneration plan to reimagine central Bath to create a destination for fashion and culture. The Fashion Museum Bath will be an anchor element of the Milsom Quarter Masterplan to make the area a great place to live, work and socialise. The area will also benefit from the reopening of the historic Jolly’s store on Milsom Street by Morleys Stores Ltd (read more).
For more information on the Milsom Quarter Masterplan, and the other projects underway see our video and website.
The Milsom Quarter Public Realm Project: aims to transform the area into a welcoming accessible and vibrant destination for residents and visitors. Key aspirations include creating a new public square in front of Saint Michael’s Church and improving the quality of streets and spaces across the quarter. These enhancements will improve the areas accessibility, walking and cycling routes, support local businesses and celebrate the area’s heritage. The designs are closely linked to the development of the new Fashion Museum at the old post office helping to establish Milson Quarter as a destination for fashion and creativity in the Southwest. Further engagement took place in May 2024, where early design ideas were shared. Feedback helped shape the vision for a vibrant, inclusive, and creative quarter in the heart of the city, and has guided the progress of design work since.
May 2024 engagement website: https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/milsom-quarter/milsom-quarter-public-space and further info: https://bathnesregen.co.uk/index.php?contentid=52
Support
The Fashion Museum has embarked on its largest ever philanthropic appeal to transform the Old Post Office into a ground-breaking new museum that brings fashion to life for local and global audiences.
Alongside the investment already made to acquire the post office site, the project has secured more than 50% of funds required thanks to a £20 million supported borrowing commitment from Bath & North East Somerset Council.
We are very grateful to the funders who have embarked on this journey with us. To date, this includes a founding grant from the West of England Combined Authority and generous development funding* from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to progress plans through the detailed design phase.
Arts Council England is also supporting our Explore the Collection project in collaboration with Bath & North East Somerset Libraries.
Follow @FashionMuseumBath on Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram and use #FashionMusuemBath www.fashionmuseum.co.uk
*About The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Grant applications over £250,000 are assessed in two rounds. Fashion Museum Bath has initially been granted round one development funding of £768,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, allowing it to progress with its plans. Detailed proposals are then considered by the Heritage Fund at the second round, where a final decision is made on the full funding award of £ 7.2 million.
Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why, as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage, we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £ 3.6 billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.
Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLottery #HeritageFund
