Update on Coronavirus

Update: 11th August 2020

We are delighted to announce that on Tuesday the 8^th of September, the Art Collections Study Room will reopen for visitors!

This also includes the Museum of English Rural Life, the University Special Collections, and the shop, café and garden.

We have greatly missed you during these difficult months and are overjoyed to be so close to welcoming you back.

As we return, we have taken many steps to ensure that you – our staff, visitors, and volunteers – will be safe and comfortable during your visit, and we will be sharing much more news about this very shortly.

We look forward to updating you again very soon!

Update: 25th June 2020

We welcome the announcement that museums will be able to reopen from 4th July. The University Art Collection and its host building The Museum of English Rural Life will not reopen straight away but we are working hard to put in place all the necessary measures to allow for a new kind of visit, ensuring the safety of all our staff and visitors.

Our reopening will be part of the phased reopening of all the University of Reading‘s campus buildings. We hope to be able to share more information about our plans very soon.

Much has changed while we have been closed; we have missed our visitors. We look forward to welcoming you back and to being able to contribute to and enjoy being part of the amazing community and cultural life of Reading.

18th March 2020

We understand that this news will be disappointing. We would like to reassure you that it is not a decision we have taken lightly. We will review our plans beyond April in due course. For updates, please keep visiting our website and follow us on social media.

Our primary concern is to protect the health of our visitors, volunteers, students and staff. The University’s Major Incident Team is meeting regularly to monitor the situation closely and follow all government advice to help prevent the spread of the virus

Although the museum & collections service will be closed, we know that our visitors and audiences care about our collections just as much as we do. We will continue sharing  the collections through social media and our websites, keeping you entertained as best we can.

Thank you for your understanding.