This is an interesting museum dedicated to the long history of the Bath Stone Industry and its associated mines, which furnished not only the construction of Bath's highly renowned Georgian architecture but many landmark buildings well beyond the city, including Bristol Cathedral and the expansion of Buckingham Palace. The compact museum space is smart and contemporary, being part of a new stylish multi-function building / community space. At the time of visiting the museum was very new and hence still a work in progress. The material is well displayed with graphical timelines, photographs and audio visual presentations. It charts the early Georgian industry through to the late C19th and beyond to the more recent efforts to save the many hundreds of properties threatened by the potential collapse of the mine workings in the village, the statistics of which make very impressive reading. There are very friendly and well informed museum volunteers on hand to answer any questions you may have. As a World Heritage site, Bath if rife with history and this little museum is an excellent complement to any city visitor's experience. It's accessible via public transport from the city centre, but we found parking in the village to be freely available despite it being a busy Heritage Open Day. The museum has easy level access for anyone with mobility issues. Opening times are currently limited so it's wise to check their website...
Read moreThe Museum of Stone is a fascinating treasure trove of facts and details about the network of mines that lie underneath Combe Down.
Visitors to the museum can get to experience this hidden world beneath Combe Down without having to actually go down there!
The information about the quarrying is meticulously detailed and presented in such a way that it is very accessible to all.
There are amazing, films, photos, interactive screens, tools and artefacts which all help to give a great overview of the history of the mines.
The museum staff are very friendly and approachable and its obvious to see that they have gone to great lengths to make the museum a worthwhile experience to anyone who visits and we are so pleased we did and fully recommend you to...
Read moreCould easily have spent and marvelled at the hard work of the original miners and then at the wisdom and ingenuity of the engineers and Welsh miners to solve and secure a tragedy waiting in an unknown time scale, to happen to an untold number of very unsuspecting people and the destruction of property which to my mind would have run in to untold millions, which would have made the remedial sum eventually paid out to stop the catastropy seem like peanuts, for the best part of one or maybe more days Chris...
Read more