Dorset Museum & Art Gallery

Who we are

Dorset Museum & Art Gallery is one of the leading independent, charitable, heritage organisations in the South West of England. Owned and managed by the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (DNHAS), the Museum was established to collect, preserve, research and exhibit objects relating to the history, natural history and culture of Dorset. Its diverse collections contain over four million objects and span almost 250 million years, including internationally significant geology, archaeology and literary artefacts. Visited by over 60,000 visitors a year, it is a museum that collects, reveals and inspires connections with Dorset’s universal story.

Our culture and values

Our vision is to be a museum that collects, reveals and inspires connections with the universal themes of Dorset’s story.

Our mission is to become the prime destination to discover and enjoy the richness of Dorset’s natural, historical and cultural heritage, and appreciate the impact of the county and its people on our understanding of the wider world.

We want to reach larger and broader audiences and encourage deeper deeper engagement with our collections. To own Dorset’s stories and tell them in bigger and bolder ways. To properly care for all our collections and enable us to collect for the future, and for visitors to understand the work we do with our collections. To be a financially and operationally sustainable museum.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

We actively encourage people from communities that are under-represented in the UK museum, arts and heritage sector to apply to join us, and bring their talent, experience and expertise to Dorset Museum & Art Gallery.