Dorset County Museum

The Dorset County Museum traces the natural, archaeological, social, and geological history of the county. The impetus for the founding of the museum came with the arrival of the Great Western Railway to Dorset in 1845. It seems that the railway route threatened several important archaeological sites. Galleries include Archaeology, Natural History, Geology, Dorset Writers with Thomas Hardy's study and one of the largest Thomas Hardy Collections in the world, Victorian Hall with Roman mosaic floor and the new Dorchester Gallery covering the history of the town over 6,000 years.

It was the winner of the Best Museum of Social History category in the 1998 Museum of the Year Awards.