THE AMERICAN MUSEUM in BATH: A fascinating collection & stunning gardens - perfect for families with autistic kids
- sunshinelayla
- Sep 17
- 6 min read
Our autistic kids made the most of the gorgeous gardens surrounding the quirky American Museum.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
Royal Bath, England
We visited the American Museum (currently run by a charitable organisation) with our two autistic children and their nonna on a sunny Saturday morning in August. The museum is around 2 miles outside Bath, which was only a 13 minute drive from Sungate House where we were staying for a long weekend, so we decided it was worth a go.
For more information on fun family activities in the local area read my blog post ROYAL BATH: A great choice for a family break with autistic kids
We turned up to the American Museum with no idea of what we'd find and we were all truly impressed (including our autistic boys). The whole site is around 125 acres, and features an arboretum, children garden and play space (big thumbs up from the boys for the rope swing!), a kitchen garden, bamboo forest, spectacular viewing points and a woodland walk.
The grounds nearest the house offer 2.5 acres of Grade II listed formal gardens; these were wheelchair accessible and looked absolutely sensation in their summer bloom. I thought they were wonderful and extremely peaceful. There was something magical about the energy the designers and gardeners have created, a feeling of joy and freedom. The boys certainly picked up on it too, they were so happy running around and exploring the outdoors.
The museum itself houses a nicely sized collection of c.12000 objects curated to tell the story of 2000 years of American history. There is also a changing schedule of fun and interesting exhibitions in their temporary display hall.
If you enjoy American history and want a break from the busy crowds of Bath's old city centre then the American Museum is a great alternative - read on to find out why.
Were the staff friendly and welcoming to us and our autistic children?
The staff were very friendly and accommodating. They accepted our sons' National Disabilities Cards as proof for carer tickets and were very kind and helpful to my elderly mother.
We bought a group ticket at the admission office, and weren't properly aware that we would need to show it again to get into the main house and temporary exhibition spaces. As the group had split in two by this time it was a little tricky, but the lady on the door to the main house was happy to accept a verbal description of those who were lagging behind.
THE MAIN HOUSE
Inside the the main house the staff were patient with the boys. We actually felt comfortable moving through the spaces with them, which doesn't happen often with our youngest as he is always so keen to touch everything! It helped that the exhibits like the replica rooms were behind ropes at some distance, and smaller objects such as the indigenous American jewellery was safe inside glass cabinets. The bits you could touch / move were robust and stood up to the boy's handling.
They really enjoyed moving/swinging the plastic doors containing all the different quilts as well as using the touch screen to have a go at creating their own quilt designs. It was a well thought out room, and was also my favourite!
THE TEMPORARY EXHIBITION HALL
When we visited this building was hosting an exhibition on space with some great artefacts of space exploration and a short interesting video featuring a female astronaut who had attended the local University of Bath. While this was fascinating stuff, the real pull was the kids explore zone, which offered a range of activities linked to the space theme - such as using hand tools wearing big gloves, catching falling objects and using panels to build your own space vehicle. It was dark with a big screen showing scrolling colours and the boys loved hanging out in here.
Were the American Museum and Gardens accessible for autistic children and carers?
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
The American Museum's main collection is housed in an old manor house that is split over a number of levels. There is a lift available for people with buggies or who cannot manage the staircases. For conservation reasons many of the rooms are dimly lit and passageways are dark. While this is good for people with sensory processing difficulties around bright light, it may prove challenging for people with limited vision.
From a sensory perspective noise-cancelling headphones in both child and adult sizes were available from the ticket desk.
There is an access guide which provides some helpful information about the physical environment but it does not really consider sensory needs, and is too wordy to be consider a visual story.
THE GARDENS
The Gardens are well signposted and neatly pathed making them suitable for buggies and wheelchairs, although there are quicker routes around the site if you are able to travel across unlevel paths and use steps.
For those with mobility issues the museum has teamed up with Countryside Mobility and have a specialist outdoor mobility scooter available to book called a Tramper. There is a one-off hire fee of £3 to use this, or it is free if you have a Countryside Mobility Annual Membership (£15). We rang the day before and booked this scooter for my mum as she is unable to walk long distances. She said it was very easy to use and really helped to make the most of her visit, whizzing her up and down hills and along the beautiful garden paths to the bottom of the site. However she was asked not to take it on the Woodland Walk section of the property, as the ground is not level enough.
More information about the access arrangements and how to book special assistance at the American Museum can be found here https://www.americanmuseum.org/visit/accessibility/
EXTRA HELP WITH TRANSPORT
At the end of our visit the staff at the American Museum offered my mother a ride back to the car in their assistance golf buggy, which was greatly appreciated! In fact they also took me and my eldest son too (as sometimes he needs extra support with his mobility). Our youngest was so outraged to have been denied such a fun looking option and instead made to walk back to the car that he went into meltdown mode. The young girl recognised this and offered to give him his own little trip on the buggy to the end of the car park and back before going back to the admission office. We were so grateful for her understanding and patience, it really rescued the situation and meant that the rest of our afternoon wasn't ruined - but it was a close run thing!
What were the facilities at The American Museum and Gardens like (especially for people with hidden disabilities)?
The American Museum and Gardens had the full range of facilities, including a shop, cafe, and nice toilets. There is also an information point.
THE CAFE
The cafe was bright and spacious, and importantly cool in the heat of the summer. There was also lots of lovely outdoor umbrella and patio seating on a paved terrace with beautiful views across the Bath countryside hills. The walls of the cafe were adorned with a photographic exhibition of rock stars such as Rod Steward and Mick Jagger from their early years.
Unfortunately the service was slow, with one line for both the hot and cold food. The system for hot food seemed confused and while the food was ok we felt it was overpriced for the quality provided.
Did we have to queue during our visit to the American Museum in Bath? Was it busy?
Visitors make their own way via a 150m gently sloping footpath from the carpark to the main entrance. The car park was a reasonable size and we were able to use a disabled blue badge holder spot near the beginning of the footpath. Alternatively drivers are welcome to follow signage to drop off passengers at the Ticket Office and then return to park in the main car park.
We arrived on an August Saturday about half an hour or so after opening and car park was beginning to fill up. It looked like a popular place.
There was a short queue to purchase a ticket as we had not done so online, after that we didnt need to wait anywhere. Although it looked like there were a lot of people on site, the extensive gardens and two gallery spaces meant people were evenly dispersed so we did not have a problem with crowds when moving around the rooms in the main house.
It was another a matter in the cafe, which had a long queue at opening time and a slow confused service - see above.
Does The American Museum and Gardens offer a concessionary or carers' entrance ticket?
Entry to the American Museum and Gardens requires a ticket, however there was no charge for parking. At the time of our visit we were able to purchase a family ticket for one adult and two children and two free carers ticket. They have a generous range of discounted / concessionary rates as well as an annual membership and a 10% discount if you book online in advance.
For more information on visiting the American Museum and Gardens in Bath please go to:
FINAL THOUGHTS
We really enjoyed our visit to the American Museum and Gardens, much more than we had expected.
There was plenty for us all to enjoy, I found it very relaxing to sit in the grounds and just gaze across the hils to the valley below.
For more information on the museum visit its website The American Museum.
