Dorset County Museum

The Museum is housed in a beautiful, gothic-style building which dates from 1881. It houses an array of fascinating galleries which deal with a wide range of subjects from the natural sciences and geology to art, history and literature. The galleries include many video displays, interactive exhibits and activity carts for children.

Dorset's rich archaeology is reflected in the collections of the museum. It is home to over a million archaeological finds, from the Iron and Bronze Ages to the later medieval period. The most important of these objects are on display in the Archaeology Gallery, where visitors will find gold neck-rings, hoards of bronze coins and beautiful Roman mosaics.

The Victorian Hall is the main gallery of the museum, built in 1883 with arches of fine cast ironwork inspired by the Great Exhibition of 1851. A feature is the beautiful rose window. Displayed within the gallery is a rich and varied collection of artefacts ranging from Roman mosaics and Tudor paintings to a contemporary carving by sculptor Alan Marsh (1912-1997). The mosaics inlaid on the floor came from Roman town houses excavated in and around Dorchester - the site of the Roman town of Durnovaria.

The Dorset County Museum has the largest Hardy collection in the world, the bulk of which was bequeathed to the Museum by his second wife Florence Hardy. The most fascinating material from this collection - including manuscripts, books, diaries, photographs, notebooks and paintings - is on show in A Writer's Dorset. At the centre of the Gallery is the reconstruction of Hardy's study at Max Gate, with all his books and furniture, including his desk and pens.

General Information:

• School visits catered for
• Diary of events