Members of the SWFed were hugely excited to join the National Trust team at the
Assembly Rooms in Bath for September’s in-person event.
The Bath Assembly Rooms is undergoing a major transformation. The building
returned to the management of the National Trust in March 2023, having been
leased to Bath and North East Somerset Council to house Fashion Museum Bath.
Property Operations Manager Hazel Hatton explained the building’s complex history
and outlined how the Trust has been managing the Assembly Rooms’ visitor offer
during this transitional phase of redevelopment. The team have used this time to trial
different events, such as the National Trust’s annual Summer of Play, opening at
Christmas to provide families with some peaceful craft activities and partnership
activities with the Holburne Museum and Forest of Imagination. The Assembly
Rooms will close in November this year to allow extensive capital works to take
place before reopening in late 2026.
Experiences and Partnerships Curator, Alice Graham, then shared the Trust’s plans
to develop a new character-led experience which will transport visitors to Queen
Charlotte’s annual birthday celebration ball in the 1790s. Following 11 characters,
the experience will lead visitors though the building’s lower floors displaying objects
which evidence the Assembly Rooms’ history. The team mobilised rigorous historical
research to develop these composite fictional characters, providing them with greater
freedom to present diverse stories and perspectives as part of the visitor experience.
The day concluded with a special hard hat tour of the Assembly Rooms’ lower floor.
It was fascinating to hear how this space will be reconfigured for the new experience
and how upcoming capital works will transform the building’s accessibility and
environmental sustainability. Huge thanks to Hazel, Alice and the whole National
Trust team for welcoming us all to this fascinating site.