Access at the Canal Museum

Car parking

• Two bays for disabled parking are situated directly next to the car park machine
• Ramp to canal towpath with hand-rail
• Car park machine pay-by-card, and cash options

Cycle parking

• Cycle racks to the side of the museum and so cycles are visible from the canal museum

Dogs

• Dogs are welcome in the retail side of the ground floor, plus assistance dogs
• Water bowl available outside or on request

Toilet facilities

• Newly refurbished Accessible WC with radar key access (available from the museum)
• Ramp to entrance of Accessible WC

Physical access into the building

• Ramp access and accessible entrance to the side of the building nearest to the car park on the west facing elevation
• Accessible door opener with door opening outwards
• Three access doorways to the building, two on canal towpath and one accessible access to the side (as above)
• Two steps into the café entrance. Café has level floor. Two new windows offering additional natural light
• Two steps into the welcome area/museum entrance. Level timber floor
• All entry points are well lit as are entry/exit points leading away from the building. The building is well lit throughout and outside
• Allocated space to leave buggies and pushchairs
• The Canal Museum is often visited by school groups during term time, and can be noisier during these visits, or during other special events. Site can be contacted to plan a quieter time to visit

Access to the collections

• Exhibition lighting on all floors and large print text and interpretation
• Artefacts taken out of the museum and onto the towpath during holidays and weekends to increase access to the collection
• Films available on the website to access collections if unable to physically visit
• Artefacts will be spread over all three floors, allowing access for those unable to access the first and second floor
• Historic boat Sculptor moored nearby – talks available throughout the year

Ground floor

• Café, retail, second hand-books and welcome area with museum artefacts and interpretation throughout to create immersive canal experience for those that cannot go to the first/second floor
• New, smaller welcome desk with pull out table for improved accessibility
• New accessible servery for food and beverage
• Level floors, new vinyl flooring café side, repaired timber floor retail side
• Wheelchair and push chair accessible throughout
• Seating available across the whole ground floor

First floor

• Free museum admission
• Accessible by a timber staircase
• Even floor with new vinyl flooring to reduce noise levels
• Seating is available on the first floor
• Additional natural and new exhibition lighting
• Lit display cases and re-imagined artefact displays throughout
• Interactive family area to the right-hand side with additional seating – changeable space and programming throughout the year

Second floor

• Accessible by a timber staircase
• Even floor with vinyl flooring to reduce noise levels
• Seating is available on the second floor
• Additional natural and new exhibition lighting
• Re-imagined exhibitions, lit display cases and locally themed artefacts including ‘Sunny Valley’ which will be opened up to allow access inside.

Can't get to the galleries? Don't worry...

An old corn mill plays host to our museum. It's a historic building itself so we're only allowed stairs up to our museum galleries, which are on the first and second floor. Sadly, there's no wheelchair access just yet.

But you can still find out how Stoke Bruerne played its part in the history of the canals. On our ground floor there are lots of exhibits to be seen in our cafe and shop. Plus you'll find our tactile map of Stoke Bruerne on the ground floor.