Plans to create a new home for Fashion Museum Bath have received a major boost after Bath & North East Somerset Council secured a £7.2 million grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The funding will support the transformation of the former Old Post Office in Bath city centre into a new museum expected to open in 2030.
Fashion Museum Bath left its previous home at the Assembly Rooms in October 2022. Its collection, containing approximately 100,000 objects spanning around 400 years of fashion history, has remained in secure storage while plans for the new museum have progressed.
The Heritage Fund previously awarded £768,000 in development funding to help B&NES Council develop the museum designs, carry out public engagement and prepare its application for the full £7.2 million grant. The latest announcement confirms that the larger award has now been secured.
New life for the Old Post Office
The new museum will occupy the Grade II-listed former Old Post Office in Bath’s Milsom Quarter.
B&NES Council has invested £8 million in acquiring the site. The transformation of the building is currently expected to cost a further £39 million, with the Council pledging £20 million towards the project. Additional support has also been provided by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.
Planning permission for the museum was granted in May 2026. Construction is expected to begin during winter 2027, with the museum targeting an opening date of December 2030.
The approved plans include two floors of galleries, a learning studio, a café and museum shop, accessible visitor facilities and spaces capable of hosting talks, weddings and private events.
The former Post Office yard will also become a publicly accessible courtyard garden. New entrances, lifts and circulation spaces are intended to make the historic building more accessible to a wider range of visitors.
More of the collection on display
The larger museum will allow more of the Fashion Museum’s internationally significant collection to be displayed than was possible at the Assembly Rooms.
Its holdings range from rare historic clothing and accessories to work by designers including Mary Quant, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood.
Alongside permanent displays, the museum plans to offer temporary exhibitions, workshops, talks, school activities and skills-development programmes.
Work to make the collection more accessible is already taking place. A five-year partnership with Bath Spa University will expand the museum’s digital collection, including the creation of 3D records of at least 600 objects by 2030.
Wider economic ambitions
B&NES Council expects the museum to attract approximately 250,000 visitors each year.
It is intended to become a central part of the wider regeneration of the Milsom Quarter, supporting Bath’s visitor economy while encouraging employment, training and investment in the creative industries.
Plans for the surrounding area include improved public spaces, landscaping and a new civic space outside the museum and St Michael’s Church.
Although substantial design, fundraising and construction work remains, securing the £7.2 million Heritage Fund grant represents one of the most important milestones achieved since the Fashion Museum closed in 2022.
The project can now move further from the planning stage towards the delivery of a permanent new home for one of Bath’s most internationally recognised cultural collections.
