List of museums in Dorset

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	Image	Town/City	Region	Type	Summary
Anvil Point Lighthouse		Swanage	Purbeck	Maritime	Lighthouse open for tours, located within Durlston Country Park
Athelhampton		Dorchester	West Dorset	Historic house	15th-century manor house and gardens
Beaminster Museum		Beaminster	West Dorset	Local	website, local history, archaeology, agriculture
Bennetts Water Gardens		Chickerell	West Dorset	Multiple	8-acre (32,000 m2) garden, collection of water lilies, local history museum
Blandford Fashion Museum		Blandford	North Dorset	Fashion	website, costumes and accessories from the 1730s to the 1970s
Blandford Town Museum		Blandford	North Dorset	Local	website, local history, trades, archaeology, military, railway
Bridport Museum		Bridport	West Dorset	Local	website, local history, textiles, fossils, art
Bournemouth Aviation Museum		Hurn	Christchurch	Aviation	Airplanes, engines, cockpits, a double-decker bus
Bournemouth Natural Science Society		Bournemouth	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	Bournemouth	Art	website, works by both university students and contributing artists
Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre		Charmouth	West Dorset	Natural history	Fossils and rocks of the Jurassic Coast
Chettle House		Chettle	North Dorset	Historic house	information, 18th century Queen Anne house and gardens
Clouds Hill		Wareham	Purbeck	Historic house	Operated by the National Trust, former home of T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia")
Corfe Castle Town Museum		Corfe Castle	Purbeck	Local	website, local history, geology, marble industry
Dinosaur Museum		Dorchester	West Dorset	Natural history	Dinosaurs, full size models, fossils of the Jurassic Coast
Dinosaurland Fossil Museum		Lyme Regis	West Dorset	Natural history	Local Jurassic marine fossils, dinosaurs, geology of the Jurassic Coast, shells, evolution
Dorset County Museum		Dorchester	West Dorset	Multiple	Local history, natural history, art, archaeology, agriculture, author Thomas Hardy, fossil and dinosaurs
Dorset Teddy Bear Museum		Dorchester	West Dorset	Toy	Teddy bears
Fiddleford Manor		Sturminster Newton	North Dorset	Historic house	Operated by English Heritage, medieval small stone manor house
Forde Abbey		Chard	West Dorset	Historic house	Former Cistercian monastery, house and gardens
TheGallery at Arts University Bournemouth		Bournemouth	Bournemouth	Art	website, contemporary art gallery
Gillingham Museum		Gillingham	North Dorset	Local	website, local history, trades, geology, industry
Gold Hill Museum		Shaftesbury	North Dorset	Local	website, local history, culture, industry
Grove Prison Museum		Isle of Portland	Weymouth and Portland	Prison	History of HM Prison Portland
Highcliffe Castle		Highcliffe	Christchurch	Historic house	19th century Romantic and Picturesque style castle, grounds laid out by Capability Brown
Keep Military Museum		Dorchester	West Dorset	Military	History of the regiments of Dorset and Devon
Kingston Lacy		Wimborne Minster	East Dorset	Historic house	Operated by the National Trust, 17th-century house with fine art, Egyptian artifacts, lavish interiors, gardens
Langton Matravers Museum		Langton Matravers	Purbeck	Local	website, local history, geology, limestone industry
Lulworth Castle		East Lulworth	Purbeck	Historic house	17th century mock castle manor house
Lyme Regis Marine Aquarium		Lyme Regis	West Dorset	Natural history	website, local fish and marine life of the Jurassic coast, history of The Cobb harbour wall
Lyme Regis Museum		Lyme Regis	West Dorset	Multiple	Fossils, geology, Jane Austen, local history, maritime heritage, writers and artists, formerly known as the Philpot Museum
Mangerton Mill		Bridport	West Dorset	Mill	information, 3 story watermill
Mapperton House		Beaminster	West Dorset	Historic house	Elizabethan manor house and gardens
Max Gate		Dorchester	West Dorset	Historic house	Operated by the National Trust, home of author Thomas Hardy
Museum of Design in Plastics		Bournemouth	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	Weymouth and Portland	Military	19th-century fort with important role in World War II, memorabilia, vehicles
Place Mill		Christchurch	Christchurch	Mill	website, restored Anglo-Saxon watermill, art gallery
Poole Museum		Poole	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	Poole	Maritime	Former lifeboat station and historic lifeboat
Portland Bill Lighthouse		Isle of Portland	Weymouth and Portland	Maritime	Lighthouse open for tours
Portland Castle		Weymouth	Weymouth and Portland	Military	Operated by English Heritage, 16th century armed castle fort
Portland Museum		Isle of Portland	Weymouth and Portland	Local	Local history, geology, maritime heritage, archaeology
Priest's House Museum		Wimborne Minster	East Dorset	Historic house	Rooms furnished in different periods, local history, archaeology
Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum		Corfe Castle	Purbeck	Mining	Located at the Norden railway station, history and equipment for ball clay mining
Red House Museum, Dorset		Christchurch	Christchurch	Local	information, information, local and social history, natural history, geology, archaeology, costumes
Royal Signals Museum		Blandford Forum	North Dorset	Military	National museum of army communications
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum		Bournemouth	Bournemouth	Art	Fine art and Japanese art in a Victorian mansion
Scaplens Court Museum		Poole	Poole	History	website, medieval building used for education programs, special domestic life demonstrations in August
Shaftesbury Abbey Museum		Shaftesbury	North Dorset	Religious	Artifacts from the ruins of a 15th-century Benedictine nunnery
Sherborne Castle		Sherborne	West Dorset	Historic house	Operated by English Heritage, 16th-century Tudor mansion and gardens
Sherborne House Arts		Bridport	West Dorset	Art	website, art gallery of the Bridport Arts Centre
Sherborne Museum		Sherborne	West Dorset	Local	Local history, trades, industry, household items
Sherborne Steam & Waterwheel Centre		Sherborne	West Dorset	Technology	website, restored 19th century waterwheel used to deliver town's water, formerly known as the Castleton Waterwheel Museum
Shire Hall Dorset		Dorchester	West Dorset	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	North Dorset	Historic house	website, small Georgian country house, gardens and estate
Sturminster Newton Mill		Sturminster Newton	North Dorset	Mill	website, working watermill
Sturminster Newton Museum		Sturminster Newton	North Dorset	Local	website, local history, culture
Sutton Poyntz Water Supply Museum		Weymouth	Weymouth and Portland	History	website, history of water supplying, natural history of watersheds, operated by Wessex Water Services
Swanage Museum		Swanage	Purbeck	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	Purbeck	Railway	Heritage railway and museum located in the converted Goods Shed in Corfe Castle railway station
The Tank Museum		Wool	Purbeck	Military	Tanks and armored vehicles
Terracotta Warriors Museum		Dorchester	West Dorset	History	website, replicas of warriors of the Terracotta Army found in China in 1974
Thomas Hardy's Cottage		Higher Bockhampton	West Dorset	Historic house	Operated by the National Trust, birthplace of author Thomas Hardy
Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum		Tolpuddle	West Dorset	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	West Dorset	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	Weymouth and Portland	Historic house	Early 17th century period merchant's house, operated by the Weymouth Civic Society
Tutankhamun Exhibition		Dorchester	West Dorset	History	Re-creation of the tomb of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun
Wareham Town Museum		Wareham	Purbeck	Local	Local history, T. E. Lawrence, archeology, local pottery
Weymouth Museum		Weymouth	Weymouth and Portland	Local	Part of Brewers Quay, local history, culture, maritime history
White Mill, Sturminster Marshall		Sturminster Marshall	East Dorset	Mill	website, operated by the National Trust, part of the Kingston Lacy estate, restored watermill
Wolfeton House		Charminster	West Dorset	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

See also

• Category:Visitor attractions in Dorset

References

• Dorset for You: Museums
• Dorset Museums Association