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 -
-
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.
43-410 CE
Engraved glass bowl from Colliton Park, Dorchester
Engraved with followers of Dionysus, Greek god of wine.
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.
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.
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.
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.
43-410 CE
Bronze plaque fragment, with engraved figure
The engraved figure of Minerva discovered during excavations of the Roman Temple, Maiden Castle.
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.
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.
c.1935
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 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 more22 June 2023, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
ORIGINS: How the Earth Shaped Human History | Professor Lewis Dartnell
By taking us through millennia of human history, and billions of years into our planet’s past, Professor Lewis Dartnell tells us the ultimate origin story.
Find out more24 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 more