Museum after hours

Museum after hours

19 May 2022, 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Join us for an opportunity to explore the Museum and galleries in our free monthly late opening.

 

  • Opening hours:

    Daily: 9.00am - 4.30pm
    Sunday: 10.00am - 4.00pm
    Bank Holidays: 10.00am - 4.00pm

  • Dorset Museum

    High West Street
    Dorchester DT1 1XA

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Our members enjoy special benefits all year round. Join us and support us in our crucial work preserving Dorset’s rich heritage for future generations.

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People's Dorset

Sweep through around 500,000 years of people’s history, from the Palaeolithic to the present day, on Dorset’s key themes of land, sea and community. Marvel at objects from some of Britain’s most important archaeological sites, from spectacular Bronze Age gold and finds from Maiden Castle – one of Britain’s largest Iron Age hillforts – to treasures from Roman Dorchester. Let your fingers walk Dorset’s ancient landscape on a large touchscreen. Then head forwards in time to see the belongings of Dorset’s prestigious families alongside items revealing agricultural workers’ hard lives. Move on to 20th-century Dorset to see how inventive people, creativity and enterprise helped shape its recent history.

c.6th to 7th century CE

Germanic style glass bowl fragment

This was a strongly curved, low drinking vessel with molten glass trailed around it for decoration. It is rare and only normally seen in the east and southeast of England.

People’s Dorset

43-410 CE

Engraved glass bowl from Colliton Park, Dorchester  

Engraved with followers of Dionysus, Greek god of wine.

People’s Dorset

43-410 CE

Shale table leg from a three-legged table 

Found in excavations at Colliton Park, Dorchester. Kimmeridge shale was used for many objects in Roman Dorset and beyond.

People’s Dorset

c.100 BCE - 53 CE

Stone and glass beads, both local and imported 

From an Iron Age burial at Langton Herring, these beads belonged to a young woman.

People’s Dorset

Early Bronze Age

Bronze Age beaker    

Beakers of this type are associated with the first objects made from metal. This beaker was found in Broadmayne.

People’s Dorset

70-50 BCE

Hoard of sixteen gold Durotrigian staters

Staters were the earliest coinage in Britain. Hoards of them were sometimes treated in similar ways to other deposits of special objects.

People’s Dorset

43-410 CE

Bronze plaque fragment, with engraved figure  

The engraved figure of Minerva discovered during excavations of the Roman Temple, Maiden Castle.

People’s Dorset

43-410 CE

Plait of red human hair  

Hair was preserved in several graves at the Roman cemetery at Poundbury because bodies were packed with gypsum. Women wore their hair long, often plaited and arranged on their head. The plaits were made of up to six strands, suggesting the help of a maid or hairdresser.

 

People’s Dorset

Mid-3rd century to mid-4th century CE

Glass jug from Bucknowle Roman Villa

A large, oval-shaped glass jug with distinctive chain handle. A rare survivor, this is one of the finest examples of Roman glassware ever discovered in Britain.

People’s Dorset

c.1935

Thatching at Grove House

Taken by M. H. Ouseley

Picture Library

c.1935

Thatching at Grove House

Taken by M. H. Ouseley

Picture Library

c.1935

Thatching at Grove House

Taken by M. H. Ouseley

Picture Library

c.1935

Thatching a rick a rick at Bredy Farm

Taken by M. H. Ouseley

Picture Library

1956

Milking time at Herrison Dairy

Taken L. Frisby

Picture Library

c.1935

Edgar Hawkins milking at Burton Bradstock

Taken by M.H. Ouseley

Picture Library

c.1960

Drink More Milk or from Producer to Consumer

Postcard

Picture Library

c.1920

Carey & Grimsdell butter factory, Dorchester

Picture Library

c.1935

Collecting milk from Manor Farm, Burton Bradstock

Taken by by M.H. Ouseley

Picture Library

Special Display

4 August – 29 December 2023

The Askerswell Hoard

Discover a rare Roman coin hoard recently acquired by Dorset Museum, and find out about the work going on to preserve, research and catalogue it, in this special showcase display outside the Collections Discovery Centre.

Find out more

Community Exhibition

2 December 2023 - 21 April 2024

Awakened by Frink

Awakened by Frink is a community exhibition of artwork by members of the Deaf community created during a series of workshops at Dorset Museum and Art Gallery.

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Special Exhibition

2 December 2023 - 21 April 2024

Elisabeth Frink: A View from Within

Experience the inner world of famous sculptor Dame Elisabeth Frink (1930-1993) in a major new exhibition exploring her artistic and personal life in Dorset. Showcasing over 80  sculptures, drawings and prints, this exhibition will explore her artistic process, personal life, and the influences that shaped her work.

Find out more

Family Activity

10 December 2023, 11:30am - 12:30pm | 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Elf Workshop

The Elves need your help in the workshop. Join them and lend a hand! You're invited to embark on a magical journey filled with Christmas crafts, fun activities, and the chance to learn all the secrets of the elves

Find out more

Storytelling

14 December 2023, 10:00am- 10:30am

Storytime at the Museum

Come and join us for Storytime in our Community Space at the Museum. Hear fabulous tales about dinosaurs and animals.

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Lecture

14 December 2023, 7:00pm - 8:30pm

What’s new in the British and Irish Neolithic? | Dr Alison Sheridan

While the past doesn’t change, our knowledge and understanding of it are being transformed by new discoveries and new research – and this is especially the case with the Neolithic period, the time of the first farming communities from the late 5th millennium to around 2500 BCE. This lecture offers some highlights from the past decade or so.

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Family Activity

17 December 2023, 11:30am - 12:30pm | 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Elf Workshop

The Elves need your help in the workshop. Join them and lend a hand! You're invited to embark on a magical journey filled with Christmas crafts, fun activities, and the chance to learn all the secrets of the elves

Find out more

Tours

20 December 2023, 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Collections Discovery Centre Tour

Join our Collections Team for an opportunity to explore behind the scenes in the Museum’s Collections Discovery Centre.

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Family Activity

21 December 2023, 11:30am - 12:30pm | 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Elf Workshop

The Elves need your help in the workshop. Join them and lend a hand! You're invited to embark on a magical journey filled with Christmas crafts, fun activities, and the chance to learn all the secrets of the elves

Find out more