Bath Fashion Museum has been awarded almost £800k in National Lottery funding towards a reopening in the city centre in 2030.

The iconic Bath museum has been closed since 2022, when the National Trust took back the Assembly Rooms where it had been based. Bath and North East Somerset Council plans to reopen it in a flagship location in the old post office opposite Waitrose — but a bid to fund this from the Levelling Up Fund failed in 2023.

But now the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded it initial development funding of £768k in order to develop and consult on plans to reopen the museum in the old post office. The museum will apply for a full National Lottery grant of £7.2 million next year.

Paul Roper, council cabinet member for economic and cultural sustainable development, said: “We are thrilled to have received this initial support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players we can now further develop our plans to create our new Fashion Museum of national and international significance.

“This is going to be a new, world class institution in a UNESCO World Heritage City and there is huge excitement that, at long last, we will be able to display our unique and outstanding fashion collection in a location and setting that it fully deserves.”

The collection is designated as one of outstanding significance, containing 100,000 items spanning 400 years, from 1600 to the present day. But since the National Trust took back the Assembly Rooms, the collection has been stored in a glove factory in Wiltshire — one of the only places with the correct conditions to store the fragile collection — at a cost of £150k a year.

Bringing the collection back to a new museum in the centre of Bath is a major part of the council’s plans to regenerate the Milson Quarter and boost the city’s tourism economy. A new “digital catalogue” will make it available to audiences worldwide.

Stuart McLeod, of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We’re pleased to offer our initial support to this transformational project that will give Fashion Museum Bath a home in the city’s historic centre. Not only does this mean a Grade II listed building will be brought back to life, but also a globally significant collection will be accessible to everyone, both in person and digitally.”

Helen Godwin — who was elected the West of England’s new mayor last week — added: “This follows the multimillion pound commitment from the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority to the wider Milsom Quarter regeneration in the heart of Bath, working with the council. Fashion Museum Bath will be part of a bright new chapter for our region.”