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.
| Name | Image | 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[1] | |
| 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 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[2] | |
| 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 | .jpg) |
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 | .jpg) |
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[3] |
| 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 |
- ^ "Portland dockside D-Day museum opens - BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ^ "Grove Prison Museum". Portland History. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
- ^ "West Bay Discovery Centre - Bridport & West Bay". Bridportandwestbay.co.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2018.