List of museums in Dorset facts for kids

This list of museums in Dorset, England contains museums which are defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical interest and make their collections or related exhibits available for public viewing. Also included are non-profit art galleries and university art galleries. Museums that exist only in cyberspace (i.e., virtual museums) are not included.

To use the sortable table, click on the icons at the top of each column to sort that column in alphabetical order; click again for reverse alphabetical order.

Name	Town/City	Type	Summary
Anvil Point Lighthouse	Swanage	Maritime	Lighthouse open for tours, located within Durlston Country Park
Athelhampton	Dorchester	Historic house	15th-century manor house and gardens
Beaminster Museum	Beaminster	Local	website, local history, archaeology, agriculture
Bennetts Water Gardens	Chickerell	Multiple	8-acre (32,000 m²) garden, collection of water lilies, local history museum
Blandford Fashion Museum	Blandford	Fashion	website, costumes and accessories from the 1730s to the 1970s
Blandford Town Museum	Blandford	Local	website, local history, trades, archaeology, military, railway
Bridport Museum	Bridport	Local	website, local history, textiles, fossils, art
Bournemouth Aviation Museum	Hurn	Aviation	Airplanes, engines, cockpits, a double-decker bus
Bournemouth Natural Science Society	Bournemouth	Natural history	website, open for events and open house days, includes preserved plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, eggs and shells, fossils, rocks and minerals, archaeological artifacts and an Egyptology collection
Bournemouth University Atrium Gallery	Bournemouth	Art	website, works by both university students and contributing artists
Castletown D-Day Centre	Isle of Portland	Military	History of Portland Harbour's role in the Normandy landings
Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre	Charmouth	Natural history	Fossils and rocks of the Jurassic Coast
Chettle House	Chettle	Historic house	information, 18th century Queen Anne house and gardens
Clouds Hill	Wareham	Historic house	Operated by the National Trust, former home of T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia")
Corfe Castle Town Museum	Corfe Castle	Local	website, local history, geology, marble industry
Dinosaur Museum	Dorchester	Natural history	Dinosaurs, full size models, fossils of the Jurassic Coast
Dinosaurland Fossil Museum	Lyme Regis	Natural history	Local Jurassic marine fossils, dinosaurs, geology of the Jurassic Coast, shells, evolution
Dorset County Museum	Dorchester	Multiple	Local history, natural history, art, archaeology, agriculture, author Thomas Hardy, fossil and dinosaurs
Dorset Teddy Bear Museum	Dorchester	Toy	Teddy bears
The Etches Collection	Kimmeridge	Natural history	Fossils
Fiddleford Manor	Sturminster Newton	Historic house	Operated by English Heritage, medieval small stone manor house
Forde Abbey	Chard	Historic house	Former Cistercian monastery, house and gardens
TheGallery at Arts University Bournemouth	Bournemouth	Art	website, contemporary art gallery
Gillingham Museum	Gillingham	Local	website, local history, trades, geology, industry
Gold Hill Museum	Shaftesbury	Local	website, local history, culture, industry
Grove Prison Museum	Isle of Portland	Prison	History of HM Prison Portland
Highcliffe Castle	Highcliffe	Historic house	19th century Romantic and Picturesque style castle, grounds laid out by Capability Brown
Keep Military Museum	Dorchester	Military	History of the regiments of Dorset and Devon
Kingston Lacy	Wimborne Minster	Historic house	Operated by the National Trust, 17th-century house with fine art, Egyptian artifacts, lavish interiors, gardens
Langton Matravers Museum	Langton Matravers	Local	website, local history, geology, limestone industry
Lulworth Castle	East Lulworth	Historic house	17th century mock castle manor house
Lyme Regis Marine Aquarium	Lyme Regis	Natural history	website, local fish and marine life of the Jurassic coast, history of The Cobb harbour wall
Lyme Regis Museum	Lyme Regis	Multiple	Fossils, geology, Jane Austen, local history, maritime heritage, writers and artists, formerly known as the Philpot Museum
Mangerton Mill	Bridport	Mill	information, 3 story watermill
Mapperton House	Beaminster	Historic house	Elizabethan manor house and gardens
Max Gate	Dorchester	Historic house	Operated by the National Trust, home of author Thomas Hardy
Museum of Design in Plastics	Bournemouth	Art	website, collection of the library of the Arts University Bournemouth, international, historical and contemporary design examples of plastic items and uses
Nothe Fort	Weymouth	Military	19th-century fort with important role in World War II, memorabilia, vehicles
Place Mill	Christchurch	Mill	website, restored Anglo-Saxon watermill, art gallery
Poole Museum	Poole	Local	Local history, ceramics and Poole Pottery, archaeology, maritime and social history, local trades and industries, costume and textiles; formerly known as the Waterfront Museum
Poole Old Lifeboat Museum and Shop	Poole	Maritime	Former lifeboat station and historic lifeboat
Portland Bill Lighthouse	Isle of Portland	Maritime	Lighthouse open for tours
Portland Castle	Weymouth	Military	Operated by English Heritage, 16th century armed castle fort
Portland Museum	Isle of Portland	Local	Local history, geology, maritime heritage, archaeology
Priest's House Museum	Wimborne Minster	Historic house	Rooms furnished in different periods, local history, archaeology
Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum	Corfe Castle	Mining	Located at the Norden railway station, history and equipment for ball clay mining
Red House Museum, Dorset	Christchurch	Local	information, information, local and social history, natural history, geology, archaeology, costumes
Royal Signals Museum	Blandford Forum	Military	National museum of army communications
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum	Bournemouth	Art	Fine art and Japanese art in a Victorian mansion
Scaplens Court Museum	Poole	History	website, medieval building used for education programs, special domestic life demonstrations in August
Shaftesbury Abbey Museum	Shaftesbury	Religious	Artifacts from the ruins of a 15th-century Benedictine nunnery
Sherborne Castle	Sherborne	Historic house	Operated by English Heritage, 16th-century Tudor mansion and gardens
Sherborne House Arts	Bridport	Art	website, art gallery of the Bridport Arts Centre
Sherborne Museum	Sherborne	Local	Local history, trades, industry, household items
Sherborne Steam & Waterwheel Centre	Sherborne	Technology	website, restored 19th century waterwheel used to deliver town's water, formerly known as the Castleton Waterwheel Museum
Shire Hall Dorset	Dorchester	Prison	website, also known as Old Crown Court and Cells, courtroom, cells and stocks restored to appear as during the trial of the Tolpuddle Martyrs in 1834
Stock Gaylard	Sturminster Newton	Historic house	website, small Georgian country house, gardens and estate
Sturminster Newton Mill	Sturminster Newton	Mill	website, working watermill
Sturminster Newton Museum	Sturminster Newton	Local	website, local history, culture
Sutton Poyntz Water Supply Museum	Weymouth	History	website, history of water supplying, natural history of watersheds, operated by Wessex Water Services
Swanage Museum	Swanage	Local	website, local history, geology and history of the Jurassic Coast, stone industry, local development of early radar in the UK during World War II
Swanage Railway	Corfe Castle	Railway	Heritage railway and museum located in the converted Goods Shed in Corfe Castle railway station
The Tank Museum	Wool	Military	Tanks and armoured vehicles
Terracotta Warriors Museum	Dorchester	History	website, replicas of warriors of the Terracotta Army found in China in 1974
Thomas Hardy's Cottage	Higher Bockhampton	Historic house	Operated by the National Trust, birthplace of author Thomas Hardy
Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum	Tolpuddle	History	Trade union history of 19th-century English agricultural labourers who were convicted of swearing a secret oath as members of the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers
Town Mill, Lyme Regis	Lyme Regis	Mill	website, restored working watermill, complex also houses art galleries, a café/restaurant, craft studios and workshops, a bakery, a mill shop and the Miller's garden
Tudor House	Weymouth	Historic house	Early 17th century period merchant's house, operated by the Weymouth Civic Society
Tutankhamun Exhibition	Dorchester	History	Re-creation of the tomb of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun
Wareham Town Museum	Wareham	Local	Local history, T. E. Lawrence, archeology, local pottery
West Bay Discovery Centre	West Bay	Local	Visitor centre covering the history of West Bay, housed in a former Methodist chapel
Weymouth Museum	Weymouth	Local	Part of Brewers Quay, local history, culture, maritime history
White Mill, Sturminster Marshall	Sturminster Marshall	Mill	website, operated by the National Trust, part of the Kingston Lacy estate, restored watermill
Wolfeton House	Charminster	Historic house	Early Tudor and Elizabethan manor house

Defunct museums

Discovery, interactive hands-on science exhibits, formerly part of Brewers Quay
Museum of Electricity, Christchurch, closed indefinitely in 2012
Timewalk, formerly located in Brewers Quay, exhibits on 600 years of local history and the brewing heritage of the building. Closed in 2010.