Herschel Museum of Astronomy

The Herschel Museum of Astronomy is at 19 New King Street in Bath, England. It opened in 1981 and is special because it is inside a town house where famous astronomers once lived.

The museum was the home of William Herschel, a man who discovered many things about space, and his sister Caroline, who helped with his work. Today, visitors can see where they made their discoveries and learn about their important work.

Location

The Herschel Museum of Astronomy is in a special old house at 19 New King Street in Bath, England. This house was once home to William and Caroline Herschel. It is a well-preserved building from the 1700s, made from Bath stone with slate roofs. The house has five floors, including an attic and basement.

William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus while living in this house in 1781. The building has been carefully restored and looks much like it did in the past.

Museum

The Herschel Museum of Astronomy opened on March 13, 1981. It marks the day William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus 200 years earlier. The building was saved thanks to the William Herschel Society and support from Doctors Leslie and Elizabeth Hilliard.

Visitors can enjoy audio tours. Special tools help people who have trouble seeing or moving around. The museum offers tours in many languages and has activities for school groups.

Layout and contents

The basement of the Herschel Museum of Astronomy has a kitchen, a parlour, and a workshop. On the ground floor, there is an entrance hall, a small dining room, and a large room that faces south. The first floor has a Music Room and a Drawing Room. The upper floors are now flats.

The kitchen has a Victorian cast iron stove and a stone floor. It also has a replica of a Georgian house, fully furnished inside. The workshop is where William Herschel made telescopes. It has tools and machines used for making lenses, including a replica furnace and a touchscreen computer.

The Caroline Lucretia Gallery, added in 2011, is a modern space for temporary exhibitions. The garden looks like a formal Georgian town garden, with special plants, a sculpture of the planet Uranus, and a sundial. The Music Room has a beautiful harp and a model showing the movements of the planets. The museum’s collections include a dress worn by Caroline Herschel, a sundial, a model of a large telescope, and rare books, including Caroline’s visitor book.