Science Museum at Wroughton
The unimposing entrance to the large site
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| Established | 1979 |
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| Location | Wroughton, near Swindon, Wiltshire, England |
| Type | Science museum |
| Director | Ian Blatchford |
| Website | Sciencemuseum.org.uk |
| Science Museum Group | |
The Science Museum at Wroughton, near Swindon, England, contains the large-object store of the Science Museum and the Science Museum Library & Archives. It is part of the Science Museum Group.
The Science Museum took ownership of the 545 acre former RAF Wroughton airfield in 1979, to be used as a storage facility for the largest objects of the Science Museum. A collection of approximately 26,000 objects is currently kept in six of the hangars, from the first hovercraft to MRI scanners, and computers to (de-activated) nuclear missiles. The store is particularly notable for its extensive collection of vintage aircraft, road transport vehicles, agricultural machinery and industrial collections.
In 2016 the Science Museum at Wroughton started to be featured in The Grand Tour, a motoring entertainment show. The show's three ex 'Top Gear' hosts use some of the roads surrounding the museum buildings as a vehicle test track each week.
The object collections at Wroughton are not normally open to the public, however "research" visits to see specific objects in store can be booked by application. In the past there were regular open days when the public could view the collections.
The Science Museum Library & Archives collections are part of the Science Museum in London. Its holdings include original scientific, technical and medical works from the last 500 years. The Library is free to use and open to the public but appointments to visit have to be booked in advance. It is open on Fridays 10.00 - 17.00.
The Science Museum Library was founded in 1883 as the Science Library of the South Kensington Museum. It was formed of collections from the South Kensington Educational Library and the library of the Museum of Practical Geology. In 1907 it moved to the Royal College of Science building. When the Science Museum gained its independence in 1909, the Science Library became its responsibility.
In 1992 the Library joined with Imperial College London to form the Imperial College & Science Museum Libraries. Due to the increasing demand for space in South Kensington, about 85% of the collections and all of the archives moved to a specially adapted library building at Wroughton, Swindon in 2007. The London Library closed in February 2014 and all of its collections were moved to the Library in Wroughton
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