Museum of Computing is now homeless

The Museum of Computing in Swindon is looking for a new location after putting it's exhibits on computers and technology into storage.

It was previously housed at the the University of Bath's Oakfield Campus, which is set to close, leaving the museum homeless.

The museum is currently storing its thousands of exhibits in office space in Swindon, which they will have for 18 months while they search for a new home. Simon Webb, the museum curator, said they are currently looking into a few locations, and he is confident they will find something within the year - and hopes the solution will lie in Swindon.

“We’ve had some offers to relocate, but we desperately want to stay in Swindon,” Webb said. “We always thought it was the right place for the museum because of the technology in the location.”

Intel and Motorola are both strong tech presences in the area, and Swindon has often been dubbed the ‘Silicon Valley’ of the South West. Webb added the museum would consider relocation as a last resort.

He also said that the museum is staffed by a “great team” of volunteers in Swindon, which would make relocation hard on the museum.

“We’re pretty frustrated right now,” Webb said. “When we were open, there was just so much positive feedback and enormous public support for the museum. We’ve got this fantastic collection and nowhere to display it.”

The museum, which opened in 2003, has over 2,000 hardware exhibits, 85 per cent of which are in working condition. It also features 2,500 software items, and around 1,500 items including books, manuals and magazines related to computing and technology. Admission has always been free, and the museum has managed to pull in approximately 5,000 visitors annually, including the Duke of Kent.

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