Festival of Archaeology: Talk
Hidden Patterns in the South Dorset Landscape | Jonathan Harwood
29 July 2022, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
The positions of churches in the South Dorset Landscape, when connected together by straight lines (drawn from church symbol to church symbol on a map at a scale of 1:25,000) reveal deliberate and meaningful patterns.
Jonathan began to explore these patterns in 1997 and, over the years, has carefully considered whether these arrangements of churches in the landscape could be the result of chance. This would be the most obvious explanation since, apart from anything else, it seems out of the question that surveying techniques in Antiquity would have been up to the job. We have a strong tendency, however, to underestimate the capabilities of our ancestors.
In this talk, Jonathan explores his hypothesis that one particularly remarkable pattern encapsulates the, to us, very curious beliefs and practices of Gnostic Christians who were present amongst the villa-owning elite in Dorset during the Roman period.
In the 17th century, a group of puritans in Dorchester pursued a project to transform the town into the ‘New Jerusalem’. More than a thousand years before it seems that another group was motivated to imprint a scaled-up version of the floor plan of the Holy of Holies of the Temple of Solomon onto the Dorset landscape.
Important Announcement
On Friday 2nd June 2023 the cafe TASTE at Dorset Museum cafe will be closed from 2pm
for a private function.
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Opening hours:
Daily: 9.00am - 4.30pm
Sunday: 10.00am - 4.00pm
Bank Holidays: 10.00am - 4.00pm -
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What's On
18 February - 22 June 2023
The Art of Seeing: An exhibition of photographs by Dorchester Camera Club
The Club is delighted to have this opportunity to exhibit some of their members’ prints in the Dorset Museum together with an audio-visual presentation.
Find out more22 March - 25 June 2023
ARTIST ROOMS Louise Bourgeois
Explore the work of Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010), one of the most important figures of modern and contemporary art. This spring Dorset Museum will show a major presentation of her work in this ARTIST ROOMS touring exhibition featuring works jointly owned by Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland.
Find out more29 March - 9 July 2023
PJ Harvey – Orlam
Dorset Museum is now displaying an archive of material relating to PJ Harvey’s verse novel Orlam.
Find out more4 June 2023, 10:00am-12:00noon
Louise Bourgeois’ Weaving | ArtyFacts
Help us to create a wonderful woven installation in our Sculpture Courtyard inspired by spider's webs and the artworks of Louise Bourgeois.
Find out more4 June 2023, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Dorchester Through the Lens of Thomas Hardy | Mark Chutter
Join Mark Chutter, Chairman and Academic Director of the Thomas Hardy Society, to explore how Hardy presents the town of Dorchester in his writing.
Find out more10 June 2023, 10:00am - 12:00noon
Roman Town House Tours
A guided tour of one of the best examples of a Roman Town House in England.
Find out more17 June 2023, 10:00am - 12:00noon
Roman Town House Tours
A guided tour of one of the best examples of a Roman Town House in England.
Find out more21 June 2023, 2:00pm - 2:45pm
Collections Discovery Centre Tour
Join our Collections Team for an opportunity to explore behind the scenes in the Museum’s Collections Discovery Centre.
Find out more22 June 2023, 5:00pm - 6:30pm
FREE | Museum After Hours
Join us for an opportunity to explore the Museum at this FREE late opening.
Find out more