Thousands explore science museum collections as new tour dates go on sale.
https://www.scienceinnovationpark.org.uk/visit-us/public-guided-tours
The Science and Innovation Park in Wroughton, Wiltshire, is home to more than 300,000 objects from the Science Museum Group Collection.
During the tour, visitors can come face-to-face with an array of incredible objects, including:
- A 1980s Cyberman costume from Doctor Who
- Objects from Professor Stephen Hawking’s office
- A balloon gondola used in a record-breaking journey into the stratosphere
- An electric car from 1916 that was decades ahead of its time
- An ice cream tricycle that helped win the Second World War
Tickets please
New tickets are now on sale for guided tours at the Science and Innovation Park in Wroughton. The site is home to 80% of the Science Museum Group Collection.
One of the top things to do in Wiltshire, tour dates are available seven days a week through to December 2026. Plus, extra weekend tours added following strong demand.
Visitors can enjoy a unique day out this summer and go behind the scenes of one of the UK’s largest museum collections. There’s access to some of the 300,000 objects cared for at the site.
Thousands of people explored the Science and Innovation Park in Wiltshire through guided tours in the last year. And now even more visitors can experience the collection as new dates are now on sale through to December 2026.
The expert-led, 90-minute behind-the-scenes tours take visitors inside the Hawking Building. This state-of-the art storage facility is home to a vast collection of more than 300,000 scientific, technological and medical objects from the national collection. Visitors can discover how museum specialists care for and conserve these historic objects. All while enjoying stunning views of the purpose-built collections centre.
The Hawking Building
At almost 300 metres long and 90 metres wide, the Hawking Building is comparable in size to 600 double-decker buses. The purpose-built facility enables the Science Museum Group to:
- store
- conserve
- research and …
- … digitise its unique collection.
Within the 27,000m2 building are 30,000 metres of shelving. All providing a home for the tiniest and most delicate objects. All along with a further 5,500m2 of pallet racking and 3,500m2 of freestanding space, that holds some of the larger objects in the collection.
The building also houses conservation laboratories, photography studios, and specialist research spaces.
Photographed January 2024.
OTHER WAYS TO EXPLORE THE COLLECTION
The Science and Innovation Park is also a major research resource. Researchers can apply to access objects from the collection – either in person or remotely – free of charge. They can also explore the Science Museum’s Library and Archive collection of over half a million items.
You can find more than half a million historic objects on the Science Museum Group’s online collection. It’s one of the world’s most extensive digital science collections in the world. Website visitors can discover these incredible objects and the stories behind them through:
- films
- articles
- a podcast and other online tools.
