Limited access
3
3
Date of visit: October 2025
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets and moving around.
I use or have experience of: disabled toilet, wheelchair
Overall Rating
Average
Swansea Museum is located in a very old building and I found the step-free access was limited. The main entrance is not step-free but there is a step-free entrance on the left of the building on Burrows Place. From the step-free entrance you have access to the lowest floor which has a beautiful china exhibit, an animal and fossil exhibit and some other historic items on display. There was a small platform lift but it had a sign on the door saying that the lift shouldn’t be used by powerchairs and it was too small for me to fit into with my power attachment on the front of my wheelchair. The museum is free to enter and it did have some on-site parking available.
Disabled Access In and Around
Poor
The main entrance at the front of the building has large steps with grab rails on both sides. There is a step-free entrance to the left of the building on Burrows Place. The doors leading in from the step-free entrance had buttons to open the doors automatically. On the lowest level there were two main exhibits as well as some other historic exhibits on display between them. It was easy to navigate between them and spacing in exhibits was good. There was a small platform lift to travel to other floors. However, this had a sign saying it wasn’t suitable for powerchairs and I wasn’t able to fit in there with my power attachment on the front of my wheelchair. There were no alternative formats in use.
Accessible facilities: Lift to some areas, Step-free entrance
Parking & Transport
Good
I travelled to this place by walk or wheel
There is a very small car park for museum visitors which is where the step-free access is located. According to the museum website, there is space for five cars but this might be a bit of a squeeze. When I visited there were some on-street disabled spaces just outside the entrance to the museum car park. There are two paid car parks close to the museum, NCP City Gates is 270 metres away and East Burrows car park is 280 metres away. The closest bus stop is right outside the front of the museum on Burrows Place.
Accessible facilities: Dedicated on-site parking, Public or on street parking
Accessible Toilets
Good
There was an accessible toilet located close to the step-free entrance. It had a standard door handle and opened outwards. Inside was a horizontal grab rail and a coat hook that was very high up. Below the door handle was a small twist lock, due to its size, it might be tricky to operate with a fist or elbow as the turnpiece was quite small and thin. The room was quite spacious and I had lots of space to accommodate my wheelchair and power attachment. The toilet had space next to it for a left-side transfer, but a large bin and small stool were being stored in this space. There was a height-adjustable grab rail, a vertical grab rail and a horizontal grab rail around the toilet. A roll of toilet paper was mounted above the horizontal grab rail. The flush was a standard lever flush and it was mounted on the cistern. It was placed on the opposite side to the transfer area so you had to reach across the toilet to use it. In front of the toilet was a small sink with a single tap in the centre. There was a bottle of liquid soap on either side of the tap. The tap was manually operated and had a small lever to twist it which seemed like it could be operated with a fist or elbow. The tap twisted to control both the temperature and flow of the water. There was a vertical grab rail on either side of the sink, a manual soap dispenser above it (which was empty) and a mirror above the soap dispenser. This mirror was too high for me to use from my seated position. On the right of the sink was a hand dryer and a colostomy shelf. Another coat hook was mounted between the hand dryer and shelf which was lower than the one on the door. There was a box mounted to the wall where free period products would usually be stored but this was empty when I visited. The red emergency cord had been looped around the vertical grab rail by the toilet. I made sure it was hanging freely before I left.
Facilities: Accessible toilet
Staff
I didn’t see or interact with any staff on my visit as they were located at the main entrance.
