Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution

About the museum

The Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution was founded in early 1824 as a society for science, literature and the arts, and held its first lecture in January 1825. Its first president was the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne. The society received royal patronage in 1830 and added "Royal" to its name in 1837.

The first home was a purpose-built building between the Abbey and the River Avon. It contained a laboratory, two libraries, a lecture room and a museum room. In 1834 the society also laid out botanical gardens beside the river, on the site of today's Parade Gardens. The original building was demolished in 1932 for road improvements, and the Institution moved to its present five-storey Georgian building in Queen Square.

Today the charity looks after more than 150,000 scientific and historical objects, covering fields such as archaeology, ethnology, zoology, mineralogy, botany and palaeontology. Only a small part can be shown to the public. The library holds more than 9,000 volumes, including the Jenyns and Broome natural history libraries, and the archives contain letters from naturalists and scientists such as Charles Darwin. Alongside the displays, the Institution runs more than 100 talks a year, workshops, exhibitions and youth education, and hires out its rooms for meetings and events.

Highlights

• Free permanent displays of natural history and historic objects
• Fragment of a meteorite collected in Siberia in 1779
• Strawberry Bank Lagerstätte fossil collection (online)
• Eighteenth-century maps of the region
• Bath Discovery Trails: four guided walks linked to the displays
• Library with the Jenyns and Broome natural history collections

Permanent exhibition

• Permanent displays – Free displays of selected objects from the Institution's collection, including natural history specimens and a piece of a meteorite collected in Siberia in 1779.

Founded

1824

Operated by

Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (registered charity no. 304477)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

The permanent displays and the current exhibitions are free to visit. Talks and some events are ticketed separately, and members receive a discount on talks.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The first-floor rooms and toilets can be reached step-free by lift; visitors should ring the bell at the entrance for assistance. There is currently no step-free access to the ground-floor exhibition space.

Kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

The website has a Families page with family activities and events, and the Institution runs youth education programmes.

Getting there & parking

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Amenities & dining

• Wi-Fi

The visit page has a section on using the Wi-Fi in the building; the conditions are not stated. The website has an online shop.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent

Up to 100 guests.

Several rooms can be hired for meetings and events, from the Elwin Room overlooking Queen Square (seats 100) to small meeting rooms for 8. Tea and coffee and basic audio-visual equipment are included; reduced rates apply for health, education and charity groups.

Plan your visit