Wessex Museums

Our museums

Wessex Museums is made up of four key museums in Dorset and Wiltshire. We are funded as a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) by Arts Council England to bring ‘great art and culture to everyone’.

Find our museums on the map below, and click on the links in the boxes to go to their individual websites.

Explore 250 million years of the county’s history, from fascinating fossils to Roman remains, Victorian life to much-loved Wessex literature.
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Dorset Museum
Dorchester, Dorset

Marvel at the unique collection of shipwrecks and seafaring items from Poole’s days as the maritime centre of Wessex, as well as the world’s greatest display of Poole Pottery.
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Poole Museum
Poole, Dorset

Discover 500,000 years of history - from the archaeology of ancient Wessex to contemporary art - all in a stunning medieval building.
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The Salisbury Museum
Salisbury, Wiltshire

Be dazzled by gold from the time of Stonehenge, Britain’s best Bronze Age archaeology collection, and the largest coin hoard from Roman Britain.
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Wiltshire Museum
Devizes, Wiltshire

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Sawfish are also called carpenter sharks...but they are rays, not sharks!

There’s also a species called a sawshark, but that’s, well, a shark!

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What the heck is a lek?

Males great bustards perform spectacular courtship displays, gathering at a ‘lek’ or small display ground to try to impress the females.

Road Runner!

The great bustard has a dignified slow walk but tends to run when disturbed, rather than fly.

Belly Buster!

The hen-bird on display at The Salisbury Museum was one of the last great bustards to be eaten in the town!

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