Dorset Museum facts for kids
Victorian interior of the Dorset Museum
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| Established | 1846 |
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| Location | Dorchester, Dorset |
| Visitors | 47,000 (2016) |
| Founder | Thomas Hardy and others. |
| Architect | G. R. Crickmay and Son |
The Dorset Museum & Art Gallery (also called the Dorset Museum) is a cool place to visit in Dorchester, Dorset, England. Before 2021, it was known as the Dorset County Museum. It started way back in 1846! This museum tells the story of Dorset's past and its amazing natural world. The building you see today was built in 1881. It was specially designed to hold all the museum's treasures and looks like an old castle, in a style called neo-Gothic.
The museum has over 2 million items! These include things about archaeology (like Maiden Castle), geology (like the Jurassic Coast with its fossils), local history, and famous local writers like Thomas Hardy. You can also learn about natural science. The museum has fun video displays, activity carts for kids, and an audio guide to help you explore. You can see real fossilised dinosaur footprints, beautiful Roman mosaics, and original writings from Thomas Hardy.
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Exploring the Dorset Museum
The Dorset Museum was founded in 1846. It holds two very important collections: one about the famous writer Thomas Hardy and another with amazing fossils from the Jurassic Coast. The museum has about four million items in total! The Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society owns the museum. In 2016, about 47,000 people visited the museum.
In 2016, the museum planned a big expansion project. This project included adding a learning center, a cafe, a library, and a shop. The goal was to have enough space to show off more of the museum's huge collection. Before the expansion, less than two percent of the items could be seen by visitors! Many items were stored in a nearby church.
The museum closed in October 2018 for this big makeover and to build the new parts. It reopened as the Dorset Museum on May 29, 2021. The reopening was a bit delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The whole project cost millions of pounds.
What You Can See: Museum Exhibits
Thomas Hardy's World
Thomas Hardy was one of the people who helped start the museum. The museum has over seven thousand items connected to him! You can see an early copy of his book Far From The Madding Crowd from 1874. Other cool things in the Hardy collection include his handwritten notes for The Woodlanders, a dress that belonged to his sister (which might have inspired a dress in his book Tess of the d'Urbervilles), and even a recreated version of his study where he used to work.
Ancient Dorset and Beyond
The Ancient Dorset Gallery opened in November 2015. Here, you can see historical items from the Vikings found at a nearby burial site. There are also very old flint hand axes from prehistoric times, a Roman glass bowl, and a bronze mirror from the Iron Age. The British Museum even loaned some special neolithic axes made of jadeite to make the display even better.
William Barnes' Story
In July 2016, the museum opened a gallery all about William Barnes. This exhibit tells the story of his life, from his humble beginnings to his lasting impact through poetry, novels, and music.
Dippy the Dinosaur
Dippy is a plaster cast of a dinosaur skeleton. It used to be on display at the Natural History Museum, London. Dippy visited the Dorset Museum from February 10 to May 7, 2018, which was a very exciting event!
The Hinton St Mary Mosaic
The Hinton St Mary Mosaic is a very important Roman mosaic. It might even show the only known picture of Christ in an ancient Roman floor! For a while, there were discussions about bringing parts of this mosaic back to the Dorset Museum from the British Museum. As of 2021, it was not fully clear if the whole mosaic or just a part would be displayed. Many people believe the entire mosaic should be shown together so everyone can understand its full meaning. In July 2022, a local newspaper reported that talks were happening to bring this important Roman artwork to the Dorset Museum or another local site.
The Museum Building
The Dorset Museum is located on High West Street in Dorchester. It was built around 1881 using Portland stone. The architects, G. R. Crickmay and Son, designed it. The building has two floors and a slate roof. It has special stone bands called stringcourses and decorative carvings above the windows. The front of the building has a two-story section with many windows. At the top of this section, you can see a panel with the Dorchester coat of arms. Inside, the Victorian Hall has cast-iron columns and other metalwork made by Edward Cockey & Sons.
On the first floor, there's a special corner window called an oriel window. The main entrance door is to the left of the front section, with three coats of arms above it. The building was given a special Grade II listed building status on May 8, 1975. This means it's an important historical building. It's part of a group of important buildings nearby, including the Shire Hall, Holy Trinity Church, and St. Peter's Church. Behind the museum, there's also the old house where John White lived. He was important in getting permission to start colonies in Massachusetts.
