21st April 2011

DORCHESTER: Town House joins Museum at Night

Tickets are now on sale for this years Museums at Night in Dorchester on the evening of Saturday 14th May.

After the enormous success of last year’s event Dorchester’s six museums are again joining together for a special open evening as part of this national event.

New for this year is the addition of the Roman Town House - a very special historic site being the best-preserved example of a Roman Town House in the UK open to public.

Dorchester is fortunate to have a wealth of museums and heritage sites for everyone to enjoy.

They focus on a fantastic range of topics and themes including ancient civilisations, Dorset’s social and military history, prehistoric animals, literary Dorset, and teddy bears.

Museums at Night promises to be a very special night offering families and individuals an unrivalled opportunity to explore and discover seven heritage venues for just £6 for the whole family of up to two adults and four children (£10 on the night). It is from 5pm to 9pm on Saturday, May 14th .

For those who want to relax with a drink and a bite to eat on the evening, several cafes, restaurants and pubs in the centre of Dorchester are linking in with Museums at Night with special opening for those on the museum trail.

All venues are in the centre of Dorchester within easy walking distance of each other, and all the car parks are free after 6pm in Dorchester.
Tickets are now on sale at the Dorchester Tourist Information Centre or any of the participating Museums.

Museums taking part include:

• Tutankhamun Exhibition - walk through the antechamber and burial chamber of Tutankhamun’s tomb in all its splendour filled with wonderful treasure. The life, death and legacy of Tutankhamun is rarely out of the news and The Tutankhamun Exhibition pulls all the various strands of this fascinating tale together.

• Dorset County Museum - bringing Dorset’s past to the present showing 6,000 years of Dorchester’s history with displays on Maiden Castle and Dorset Archaeology.

• The county museum has a Victorian Hall, Roman mosaics, Jurassic Coast gallery and Thomas Hardy’s study. Add to this interactive displays, museum trails and audio guides.

• The Dinosaur Museum - where dinosaurs as T Rex, Megalosaurus, Triceratops and Allosaurus are represented through prehistoric skeletons, magnificent skulls, fossils and life-size dinosaur reconstructions. Hands on and interactive displays plus fun sheets make a visit a treat for children.

• The Roman Town House joins Museums Night for the first time this year. The doors will specially be thrown open wide for visitors on Museums Night allowing them to take a closer look at the mosaic floors and hypocaust.

Excerpts from the Town House Audio Guide will also be playing during the evening. Entry to the Town House is free but on this special occasion donations will be very welcome.

• The Teddy Bear Museum is a unique museum that features examples of the teddy bears from throughout the last century. Discover the 100-year history of the teddy bear, and see examples of famous bears such as Pooh, Paddington and Rupert.

The museum is in the setting of an Edwardian style house that is home to Edward Bear and his family of people sized bears.

• The Keep Military Museum is in the top 10 of highly rated Military Museums in the country.

Its magnificent collection and the methods used to display and interpret content are renowned.

The museum is highly personalised in that it reflects the military heritage presented to us all by the men and women of Devon and Dorset who for over 300 years have served their country in times of peace and conflict.

• The Terracotta Warriors Museum is the only museum devoted to the terracotta warriors - now regarded as the eighth Wonder of the Ancient World - outside of China. See unique museum replicas of the terracotta warriors from China, plus reconstructions of costumes and armour and multimedia presentations.

DORCHESTER: Town House joins Museum at Night

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