Sherborne Museum facts for kids
Sherborne Museum is a special place in Sherborne, a small town in north-west Dorset. It's a museum that collects and shows off the history of the area. Sherborne itself is an old town. It used to be a Saxon settlement and later became known for making cloth, gloves, and silk. The town is surrounded by beautiful countryside with hills made of Jurassic limestone.
How the Museum Started
The Sherborne Museum first opened its doors in 1968. It grew from a local history group that wanted to save important items and stories for people in the future. The museum is located in a very old building. It used to be the gatehouse and a special hall for giving out charity from the monastery connected to Sherborne Abbey. This building is now protected as a Grade II listed building because it's so important. In 2007, the museum got more space upstairs to keep even more of its collection safe.
What You Can Discover Inside
The museum shows you what life was like in Sherborne and the surrounding area. You can learn about its social life, history, and industries, all the way back to the Stone Age (Neolithic times). You can also explore the natural history of the region.
Some of the cool things you can see include:
- Ancient Fossils: Discover amazing fossils from a rock layer called the Inferior Oolite. These show what life was like millions of years ago.
- Medieval Wall Painting: There's a very rare and unique wall painting from the Middle Ages. It gives you a peek into art from a long time ago.
- Digital Sherborne Missal: You can explore a digital version of the 15th-century Sherborne Missal. This was a huge, beautiful book used in church services.
- Dolls' House: See a wonderful dolls' house from the Edwardian era. It shows how people lived and played over a hundred years ago.
- Plant Art: Enjoy 200 beautiful watercolour paintings of local plants. These were created by a talented artist named Diana Ruth Wilson (1886-1969).
The museum also has one of the biggest private collections of pictures of a town in the country. This includes many old photographs, postcards, and other artworks. They all help tell the story of Sherborne.
