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Accessibility Guide for Powell-Cotton Museum, House and Gardens

Contact for accessibility enquiries: Lyndsay Ridley

email addressenquiries@powell-cottonmuseum.org phone number01843 842168 websitehttp://www.powell-cottonmuseum.org
Logo- Powell-Cotton Museum

Guide last updated: 25 November 2022

  • At a glance
  • Getting here
  • Arrival
  • Getting around inside
  • Getting around outside
  • Customer care support
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Welcome

The Museum’s collection includes over 20,000 ethnographic objects; 6500 mammal specimens; fine and decorative arts from across Asia; approximately 8,000 archaeological finds from the Thanet coastline and an archive of supportive material including over 30,000 photographs and 40,000 documents. Quex House was originally built between 1806 and 1813 and expanded in the early 1900s.  The gardens are spread over 7 acres and include a Victorian walled garden, woodland walk, Koi pond and a croquet lawn.

Front view of Quex House
  • Level access icon Level Access
  • Hearing icon Hearing
  • Visual icon Visual
  • General icon General

Level access

The main entrance has level access.

There is level access from the main entrance to:

Welcome spaceGalleriesQuex HouseEntrance and ReceptionToiletMuseum ShopGardensSmoking areaWoodland WalkFelicity's Cafe and Weddings and Events at Quex

There is level access from the car park to:

Picnic tables and benches located throughout the garden

Hearing

The fire alarm has flashing lights.
Some staff have BSL and disability awareness training.

Visual

Glass doors have contrast markings.
Some parts of the venue have low lighting.
Written information is available in Quex House.

General

We have a complimentary ticket policy for personal assistants.
There is a public toilet for disabled visitors.
Some staff have disability awareness training.
We have emergency evacuation procedures for disabled visitors.

Getting here

Powell-Cotton Museum, Quex Park
Park Lane
Birchington
CT7 0BH

Travel by public transport

You can get to Powell-Cotton Museum, House and Gardens by bus and train.
There are no buses passing Quex Park. The walk from Birchington village is level and there are no hills or slopes. The bus stop is 0.7 miles / 1.1 km from Powell-Cotton Museum, House and Gardens.
The nearest train station is Birchington-on-Sea. The train station is 1 miles / 1.6 km from Powell-Cotton Museum, House and Gardens.

Buses: Most of the routes operated by Stagecoach use low floor ‘Easy Access’ buses which are wheelchair accessible. By using this webpage: http://www.stagecoachbus.com/customersercontact.aspx you can be assisted with planning your journey from start to finish.

Travel by taxi

You can get a taxi with Central Cars offer an accessible taxi service. Please call in advance by calling (01843) 88 88 88. The taxi company has a wheelchair accessible vehicle.

Parking

We have a car park. There are accessible parking spaces. The parking is less than 50 metres from the main entrance. Parking is free.
There is a drop-off point at the main entrance. The drop-off point has a dropped kerb.
From the car park to the entrance, there is level access. The route is 1500mm wide, or more.

Car park is adjacent to the main entrance

Carpark Carpark Carpark Carpark

Arrival

Path to main entrance

From the street to the main entrance, there is level access.
The path is 1020mm wide, or more.

Main entrance

The main entrance has level access.
The door is 1032mm wide.
The main door is side hung and manual.

The main entrance is situated on the ground floor with step free, level access, throughout.

There are double doors which both open to allow a space of 1m32cm/4ft 4” between.  The doors hold open on their own but are sprung, so assistance may be required.

The distance between the doors and the reception desk is 4m/13ft and the ground is tiled with 2 non-slip mats.

The reception desk stands 100.2cm/3ft 3.7” from the ground and is 221.4cm/7ft 3.4" long.

There is a lowered section of the reception desk that stands 80cm/2ft 6.2" high.

The light in the reception area is bright in the summer but can be dim in the winter months.

Entrance Glass door safety dots

Getting around inside

Visual Impairment - General Information

We have contrast markings on all glass doors.
Some parts of the venue have low lighting.

Ticket/ information desk

Entrance and Reception

From the main entrance to the desk, there is level access. The route is 1032mm wide, or more.
The door is 1032mm wide, or more.
The desk has a low section.
New ticket desk and shop area Shop Area Shop Area

Things to See and Do

We have a complimentary ticket policy for personal assistants.
We have performances with: captioned.

Welcome space

From the main entrance to this area, there is level access. The route is 1400mm wide, or more. The door is 1400mm wide.
Some display information is low, for wheelchair users. There are seats.

The corridor to the museum is 22m24cm/73ft long and 2m20cm/7ft 3” wide.  It is well lit in the summer but dimmer in the winter.  Some of the floor tiles are cracked but the path is even and level.

Corridor To Museum Welcome Space

Galleries

From the main entrance to this area, there is level access. The route is 1400mm wide, or more. The door is 1400mm wide.
Some display information is low, for wheelchair users. There are seats.

Gallery 1 is a wide open room with display cabinets lining the perimeter.  The lighting is set dim but can be made brighter on request.  (Applicable to all galleries).  The floor is wooden.

Gallery 2 has a large display cabinets running the length of the left side of the gallery with glass from floor to ceiling.  There are 4 display cabinets in this gallery with objects which are low and objects which line the top of the cabinets.  The cabinets stand 104cm/41” tall.  On the right hand side of this gallery is the “Kashmir diorama” which is behind screens to protect the taxidermy from light damage.  The space to access behind the screen is 66cm/26½”.

Gallery 3 is accessed via a wide ramp with handrails.  There is a wide space around a central display cabinet and again the dioramas are around the outside of the gallery.

Gallery 6 is through glass doors with an opening of 1m32cm/4ft 4½”.  The doors are kept open during opening times.  In this gallery are drawers which can be opened by visitors, assistance may be required with this.  There is a “cube” in the gallery which contains items from the museum’s handling collection which can be picked up and inspected. These include whole animal skins, clothing and instruments which can be played.  Assistance with higher placed objects may be required.  The entrance to the cube is 1m29cm/4ft 3” wide.

Gallery 8 has a slight slop to enter the gallery. The entrance is 1200mm wide.

All other galleries are accessed via or form part of our wide corridors.

Gallery 1 entrance Gallery 1 Corridor to other galleries Gallery 2 entrance Gallery 2 Gallery 3 entrance Gallery 3 Gallery 4 entrance Gallery 4 Gallery 5 at the end of the corridor Gallery 6 entrance Handling collection entrance/exit (gallery 6) Gallery 7 entrance Gallery 7 Gallery 8 entrance Gallery 8 Kashmir diorama entrance/exit (gallery 2)

Quex House

From the main entrance to this area, there is level access. There is a portable ramp. The route is 800mm wide, or more. The door is 1200mm wide.
Some display information is low, for wheelchair users. There are seats.
Videos have subtitles.

Access to Quex House is through the gate across the gravel driveway and through the front door of the house (1200)

We have a ramp that goes from the gravel pathway, through the front door and straight into the hall of Quex House (800).  Please let someone from the reception area or Front of House in the museum know when you’re on your way over to the house and we’ll make sure the ramp is in place for you.

The ground floor of the house is wooden flooring with rug in the hall of the house and up the stairs.  

The length of the ground floor is 34.5m/114 feet end to end.

The first floor of the house is up a flight of stairs with treads that are fairly wide with a low banister and is not accessible by wheelchair.

However, there is a film playing at the bottom of the stairs in the Grand Hall with a description of the rooms, the feature objects and the upstairs landing.  The film is subtitled.

The floors in the upstairs rooms are all also wooden with various rugs.

Ramp into the house Downstairs oriental room

Public toilet

Toilet

There is a public toilet for disabled visitors.
From the main entrance to the public toilet, there is level access. The route is 1320mm wide, or more.
The toilet door is 970mm wide.
The direction of transfer onto the toilet is to the right.
There is 320mm at the side of the toilet. There is 1450mm in front of the toilet. The toilet seat is 550mm high. The toilets have handrails.

We have one unisex accessible toilet for the use of visitors.  The toilet complies with regulations for accessible toilets and there is more than the specified clear floor space of 1200mm x 1200mm.  The door slides open with a width of 97cm/38”.  The spaces to either side the WC are 70cm/27” to the left and 32cm/12” to the right.  The transfer to the toilet is now an angled transfer to the right.  The hot water is controlled at point of delivery.

It also contains a baby changing facility.

Disabled toilet

Shop

Museum Shop

From the main entrance to the shop, there is level access. The route is 1299mm wide, or more. The door is 1320mm wide.
The route through the shop is 800mm wide, or more.

The gift shop is situated next to the reception area.  There are two entrances to the shop - the left entrance is 1299cm/4ft 3.2” and the right entrance is 145.5cm/4ft 9.5”. The shop is well-lit with ceiling spotlights and all open with plenty of wheelchair and pushchair access to get around.

Shop items and hung and presented on various shelves on 2 walls in the shop. The lowest shelf is 19cm/0.62ft high, and the highest shelf is 164.7cm/5ft 4 high.  Assistance may be required for items on the top shelf.

The pay point at the shop is the same as the reception desk which is 100.2cm/3ft 7” high.

Shop Area Shop Area

Getting around outside

Gardens

From the main entrance to the gardens, there is level access.
There is a permanent ramp.
The route is sloped. The route is 1180mm wide, or more.

Quex Gardens are open Saturday, Sunday, and bank holidays during February - October and are accessible via a corridor running beside the Reception and Gift Shop area. 

The corridor has a width of 1m32cm/52” and is 18m/59ft long, there are seats dotted all the way along this corridor.  There is a fire door half way down the corridor which is kept open during opening times and is 1m18cm/46½” wide.

The main doors to the gardens have pull down handles and are quite heavy so assistance would be required.  The door opens straight out on to a ramp walkway.

There is a tarmac pathway running the entire perimeter of the gardens via the Woodland Walk.  The narrowest point of the pathway is 1m24cm/49” wide by the pump house.

Much of the pathway in the main garden is even, however some areas are uneven and there are several cracks as tree roots are pushing up the pathway.  There are some low hanging trees and plants.

In the far corner is a walled garden with a door 83cm/33” wide.  This door is spring closed (because of naughty peacocks!) so please let us know if you need help holding the door open for you.  The pathway around the walled garden is very cracked and uneven so assistance maybe required.  The cactus house is open to visitors to walk around and has a door 87cm/34½” wide, the door is pinned back when the garden is open.

There is an outside seating area and there are benches dotted around the paths.

Ramp from museum to gardens Flat paved routes all around the garden Flat paved routes all around the garden

Picnic Area

Picnic tables and benches located throughout the garden

From the car park to the picnic area, there is level access. You can bring your own food to the picnic area.

Unfortuantely currenly our picnic tables and benches are not adapted for wheelchair users.

Smoking

Smoking area

From the main entrance to the smoking area, there is level access. The route is 1320mm wide, or more.
The entrance is 1320mm wide.
Outside museum

Woodland Walk

From the main entrance to this area, there is level access. There is a permanent ramp. The route is 1320mm wide, or more. The entrance is 1320mm wide.

Quex Gardens are open Saturday, Sunday, and bank holidays during February - October and is accessible via a corridor running beside the Reception and Gift Shop area. 

The corridor has a width of 1m32cm/52” and is 18m/59ft long.  There is a fire door half way down the corridor which is kept open during opening times and is 1m18cm/46½” wide.                      

The main doors to the gardens have pull down handles and are quite heavy so assistance would be required.  The door opens straight out on to a ramp walkway.

Ramp to Gardens from Museum
 

Paved patio to woodland walk Paved woodland walk Corridor To Gardens

Felicity's Cafe and Weddings and Events at Quex

From the main entrance to this area, there is level access. There is a permanent ramp. The route is 1330mm wide, or more. The entrance is 1260mm wide.

On site we have Felicity's café which is open from Tuesday – Sunday 9:30am – 4pm (closed Mondays except for Bank Holidays).  This can be found opposite our main entrance. It has indoor and outdoor seating tables.

Click on the link below to see menus - to book or discuss dietary requirements please call 01843 482004.

https://felicityscafeatquex.co.uk/

There are menu options for sugar free (diabetic), vegan, vegatarian and gluten free(coeliac) diets on request. Felicity's cafe also provide a venue in the main building for group lunch bookings which is also used as a wedding venue.  The entrance to the function room can either be reached through our reception area or via the front patio.

Path to Mama Feelgoods Boutique café Outdoor seating Indoor seating Cafe counter Cafe toilet

Customer care support

Accessibility equipment

We provide wheelchairs. Wheelchairs are free.
We have a hearing loop in In the museum.

Portable folding ramp to enter Quex House

The nearest toilet area for assistance dogs is the front car park in front of main entrance
Assistance dog toilet Assistance dog toilet
You can hire mobility equipment from Safe Hands (Birchington Mobility Centre) 2-6 Albion Road, Birchington, Kent CT7 9DN www.safehandsmobility.co.uk by calling Tel: +44 (0) 1843 848208.

Emergency evacuation procedures

We have emergency evacuation procedures for disabled visitors.
The fire alarm has flashing lights.

Staff will also sweep through whole venue ensuring all visitors safely exit the building.  Fire assembly points are located both to the front and rear of the main museum building.

Carpark fire meeting point Garden fire meeting point

Customer care support

Some staff have disability awareness training.
Some staff have BSL training.
Written information is available in Quex House.
Guide info
Any information, comments and views made available to users via this Accessibility Guide are provided directly from third party business operators. VisitEngland and VisitScotland do not endorse or validate this information. Any reliance on this Accessibility Guide is at your own risk. This guide is not intended to be a substitute for users making their own checks, inquiries and investigations directly with the business operators prior to making any booking or visiting the venue.
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