The modest Georgian townhouse on New King Street where William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus in 1781. The museum tells the story of Herschel and his sister Caroline, who assisted his observations and became a notable astronomer in her own right. The small garden where the discovery was made can still be visited, and a replica of his telescope is on display.
The museum is compact — you can see everything in about forty-five minutes — but the story it tells is remarkable. The workshop where Herschel built his telescopes and ground his own mirrors has been preserved, and the guides bring the science to life without dumbing it down. A genuine hidden-away attraction that most visitors to Bath miss entirely.