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
28 May – 30 October 2022
Take a fresh look at the Victorian novelist and poet, Thomas Hardy, in the stunning Wessex landscapes that shaped his view of the world. His story will be retold in exciting new ways by our museum collections, from period costumes to personal letters, art to archaeology.
Find out more9 September 2022 - 14 October 2022
Drawing Into Life – 6 Week Creative Course
Six week art course designed for adults interested in art and archaeology. This new course is an exciting opportunity to get up close with some extraordinary artefacts in the collection at Dorset Museum. You will be drawing inspiration from prehistoric art including Neolithic flint tools, Anglo Saxon gold, precious burial goods, Roman mosaics, decorative textiles and archaeological maps amongst others, and have the chance to work directly from the Elisabeth Frink collection.
Find out more3 October 2022 - 8 February 2023
Unmasked
Unmasked is a local, voluntary project that began in the dark days of March 2020, when a new disease called COVID-19 literally stopped the world as we knew it.
Find out moreCANCELLED
Who’s in the Next Room?
Poems by Thomas Hardy with new writing from Paul Hyland, Kate Scott, Catherine Simmonds & Pam Zinnemann-Hope
Find out more9 October 2022, 10:30am - 12noon
The Big Draw at Dorset Museum
Come and take part in our Big Draw event at Dorset Museum. Inspired by the natural world around us, colour and natural forms, help us create a giant collage in the style of Henri Rousseau to display in one of our galleries.
Find out more11 October 2022, 11:00am - 12:00pm
Archaeology Highlights Tour
Explore archaeological treasures held by Dorset Museum – from Bronze Age gold to medieval silver - in this volunteer-led tour.
Find out more13 October 2022, 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Museum after hours
Join us for an opportunity to explore the Museum at this free late opening
Find out more13 October 2022, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
A persistent place: a new chronology for Neolithic Dorchester
The area underneath and around the town of Dorchester was an important place for Neolithic people, who built a variety of monuments here over a period of 2000 years. In this talk, Dr Susan Greaney discusses the research project that has obtained radiocarbon dates from samples of antler picks, charcoal and human remains held in the Dorset Museum collection and has been able to build a brand new chronology for the monuments.
Find out more21 October 2022, 7:00pm - 9:30pm
Strings Forever!
Join baroque violinist Emma-Marie Kabanova on a musical journey back in time exploring the dance tunes and folk music beloved by Thomas Hardy and his family. Tim Laycock and Colin Thompson contribute the traditional dance tunes and folksongs of Dorset on violin, concertina and melodeon.
Find out more