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Photo: Nigel Mykura, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Brings over 200 years of justice and injustice to life. Walk in the footsteps of people whose lives were forever changed in the historic court at Dorchester’s Shire Hall. Famous for the trial of the Tolpuddle Martyrs in 1834.
Shire Hall is an 18th-century courthouse in Dorchester, Dorset. The building was the centre of law, order and government, and served as the county hall for Dorset until 1955. It has been Grade I listed since 1950. Between 2018 and 2026, the hall was open to the public as the Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum.
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Replicas of Tutankhamun's tomb, its artefacts and mummies displayed with photos in an old church.
Thomas Hardy's study, a history of Dorset archaeology, nature and the Jurassic Gallery - an exhibition of fossil finds from England's first natural World Heritage site - the Jurassic Coast. Includes Hitler's desk from the Reichsministry!
A Roman ruin on the County Hall site, the Town House has two principal ranges of rooms. The South Range has flint and stone walls on the grass-covered site. The West Range was mosaic floored. This range has been re-excavated and covered with a steel and glass building with a stone tiled roof perched on the original foundations.
Snug museum with replicas of the warriors from the Terracotta Army buried with the Emperor of China.
Family-friendly attraction with antique and life-size teddy bears and a collector's room. The Terracotta Army (replica) exhibition is in the same building.