Accessibility and EDI

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We believe that access to our museum should be easy for all visitors, and make sure that we’re able to accommodate visitors with a disability in exploring the Museum. We are always looking at ways to make access to the museum easier and value your feedback in refining how we improve our services. Simply contact us today with any suggestions on how we can support you on your requirements, and we’ll work to accommodate your needs.

If you have a carer to help you, there is no admission charge for them.

If booking online, please book a free of charge carer ticket.

No.1 Royal Crescent is proud to be a supporting attraction of the Rainbow Resource Scheme, which supports Bath & North East Somerset families of children with SEND.

Getting to the Museum

Parking

The museum is at the eastern end of the Royal Crescent, approximately 500m north of the city centre. Limited pay and display parking  (up to 1 hour) is located near near the museum on Upper Church Street and Brock Street. There are no designated accessible bays outside the museum. However, two designated accessible bays are located on Brock Street, leading up to the Royal Crescent.

Long Term Parking (4 hours or more) is available in the Charlotte Street car park, about 150m away. Access to the Museum from the car park for wheelchair users is via a ramped route next to the WC block in the car park. Designated accessible bays are available near the Charlotte Street car park entrance and next to the WC block. Click here to see a map.

Getting here by foot

Pedestrians visiting the museum use pavements either along the Royal Crescent, Brock Street or Upper Church Street. These are wide with flagged and slightly uneven surfaces in places. Nearby street corners have dropped curbs.

Getting here by public transport

The nearest railway station is Bath Spa. The museum is just under a mile’s walk uphill from the station.

Taxis are available at the station. If you require an accessible taxi we suggest you book this in advance.

The nearest bus stop is 500m from the museum. Take the No 1 or No 6 bus from Bath Bus Station to Alfred Street (on Lansdown Hill). To return take the No 1 or No 7 bus to Bath Bus Station. Buses run approximately every 10 minutes. All buses are accessible and can accommodate one wheelchair.

Alternatively take the Tour Buses from City Sightseeing Bath, which has a stop outside the museum. The low floor buses are suitable for wheelchair access.

You can plan your journey by car or public transport using Journey Planner; simply enter your postcode and ours, which is BA1 2LR, to get directions.

Neurodiverse Visitors

The Learning Team are working hard to develop a series of resources for use by autistic and neurodiverse visitors. We are developing our resources for visitors with SEND. These include sensory bags, visual stories and access to quiet zones.

This page will share what is available so please keep coming back as we will add more resources over time.

Sensory Map

A Sensory Map of the Museums is available. You can use this Sensory Map to identify sensory friendly spaces within the Museum. Use this as a guide for finding areas that tend to be quieter and less crowded, spaces that have seating, and others with tactile engagement and activities. To download the sensory map, please click on this link (PDF opens in a new tab) – Sensory Map

Visitors with Mobility Impairments

Flooring

No. 1 Royal Crescent is an historic building. Some of the floors are uneven. The flooring in the Basement and the Courtyard is flagstones. The Back Stairs are very steep and narrow. Outside the Gentleman’s Retreat there is glass flooring to showcase an original staircase below, this is on the main route but can be avoided by walking back through the Parlour to the Grand Staircase.

Step free access

The Museum is divided into two areas, No. 1 Royal Crescent (the historic house) and 1a, the domestic wing next door. There are two routes around the museum, one of which is step free.

The step free route gives access to the ground and basement floors of the main house museum and the ground and first floors of the domestic wing. This route gives step free access, via an accessible lift, to following museum spaces:

  • the Dining room
  • the Parlour
  • the Gentleman’s Retreat
  • the Housekeeper’s Room
  • the Servants’ Hall
  • the circulatory spaces, both above and below stairs
  • the Shop
  • the Andrew Brownsword Gallery (temporary exhibitions and holiday activities are regularly held here).

Unfortunately it does mean missing 4 rooms of the museum:

  • the Gentleman’s Bedroom
  • the Ladies Bedroom
  • the Withdrawing Room
  • the Kitchen

Multimedia Guides

A virtual iPad tour of these rooms is available to borrow from the ticket desk, when borrowing this, we will ask you to provide a credit card for security.

Toilets and Baby Changing Facilities

An adapted WC is located adjacent to the lift on the ground floor and can be accessed via the accessible lift or by descending 11 steps. This toilet has a quiet electric hand-dryer.

The ground floor toilet has baby changing facilities. This toilet is not accessible to wheelchairs. There is a quiet electric hand-dryer in this toilet.

An additional toilet is located at the end of the visitor route in the courtyard. There is a very loud electric hand-dryer in this toilet. This toilet is not accessible for wheelchairs.

Seating

A variety of seating is available throughout the museum, some with backs and arms. Please look for chairs and benches clear of a thistle, these are chairs that you are welcome to sit on.

Wheelchairs, Mobility Scooters and Buggies

We regret that mobility scooters, prams and buggies are not allowed in museum, in order to protect the furniture and displays from damage. Mobility scooters can be parked at the owner’s risk inside the railings on the paved area near the main entrance.

Manual wheelchairs are permitted. We have one manual wheelchair available to borrow, please telephone in advance to book it on 01225 428126 or ask at the ticket desk on arrival.

Visitors with Visual Impairments

Large Print

Transcripts of the immersive soundscapes are available in large print from the ticket desk. A Floor Plan is available on our museum information on the Bloomberg Connects app.

Service Dogs

Service dogs are welcome throughout the Museum. Puppies in training are welcome.

Visitors with Hearing Impairments

A subtitled, virtual iPad tour of the museum is available to borrow from the ticket desk, when borrowing this, we will ask you to provide a credit card for security.

Captions

All videos in the museum (except the projection on the kitchen table) are captioned. Transcripts of all of our new immersive soundscapes are also available.

Hearing loops

Our new immersive experience is connected to a hearing loop system and is captioned, with printed guides also available.

Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

Bath Preservation Trust’s EDI policy can be viewed here.

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