New grant is enabling Bath museum to encourage more schoolkids to reach for the stars

January 23, 2025
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Bath’s Herschel Museum of Astronomy has received £18,500 to fund a permanent planetarium that will be used to motivate to a new generation of the city’s schoolchildren to learn about science.

The grant, made through The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, will pay for a dome and projection system to take to local schools as part of the museum’s key outreach sessions. 

Before receiving it, the museum, which has won multiple awards, relied on an inflatable planetarium loaned from the University of Bath.

As this had become an immediate hit with children in Bath and beyond, and the museum’s learning and engagement team realised they would be able to reach even more children with a permanent planetarium of its own, pictured.

The museum, owned by Bath Preservation Trust. is dedicated to the discoveries and achievements of pioneering brother-sister duo William and Caroline Herschel.

It occupies a modest town house on New King St from where in 1781 self-taught astronomer William discovered the planet Uranus, doubling the size of the known universe. 

Bath Preservation Trust director of museums Patrizia Ribul said: “We are thrilled and so grateful for this generous grant which will transform our offering and widen the reach of our learning and engagement work considerably.

“Inclusion is one of our cornerstone values and the planetarium has the power to inspire all ages, from all backgrounds, encouraging children all over the South West to engage with STEM [science, technology, engineering and maths].”

Museum learning and engagement officer Ellie Giles added: “Over the past two years the inflatable planetarium loaned to us by the university has been a fantastic resource.

“We have run shows at local libraries, at science fairs and visited schools as far away as Marlborough and Slough.

“Thanks to the West of England Small Museums Grant, we have now purchased a new planetarium and projection system, meaning we can extend our programme and reach even more schools.

“In the coming months we will be creating new planetarium content to show alongside the current Herschel Museum film.

“This will be developed in consultation with a local school to ensure that it links well with the curriculum and engages children of all ages.”

Last year the museum won its second Sandford Award, a respected quality mark for heritage learning, offering validation for heritage organisations that offer a formal learning programme that supports the relevant curriculum.  

Bath Preservation Trust also owns Beckford’s Tower and Museum and the Museum of Bath Architecture, both of which reopened last year.

It receives no statutory funding and is supported by visitor income, grants, legacies, donations and members who share a passion for the city and its environs.

 

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