Wareham Town Museum

26/08/2026

📸🌍 SEEING ARABIA – A SPECIAL TALK WITH GEORGE THOMPSON 🌍📸

Fancy an afternoon exploring the fascinating world of T. E. Lawrence and his experiences in Arabia?

Join us at Wareham Town Museum on Thursday 24th September for a fascinating talk with historian, visual artist and author George Thompson, based on his acclaimed book Seeing Arabia.

Published in 2024, Seeing Arabia explores Lawrence's remarkable wartime photography, looking at his images not just as historical records, but as visual works in their own right. George offers a fascinating new perspective on Lawrence as a visual thinker and on his experiences during the First World War.

📅 Thursday 24 September 2026
🕑 2pm
📍 The Corn Exchange, Town Hall, Wareham
🎟️ FREE ENTRY -Donations encouraged

George brings a unique perspective to the subject, combining his background as a historian and visual artist with more than 25 years of academic experience.

Whether you're a long-time Lawrence enthusiast, interested in photography and history, or simply curious to discover more about one of the most fascinating figures of the 20th century, this promises to be a really interesting afternoon!

👉 Book your free place via Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/george-thompson-seeing-arabia-talk-wareham-museum-tickets-1995435995779

Please share with anyone who might be interested! ❤️

George Thompson discusses his book Seeing Arabia, exploring T. E. Lawrence’s remarkable photography and visual thinking during WW1.

19/08/2026

🏺✨ What a brilliant afternoon! ✨🏺

Our Roman pottery workshop on Friday was a huge success! We had 28 budding potters join us at Wareham Library and everyone did a fantastic job creating their very own Roman-inspired pot.

There were some seriously creative designs and we loved seeing all the different ideas and decorations! 🏺🌿

A massive thank you to everyone who came along and got stuck in, and to Wareham Library for being such wonderful hosts as always. 💛

We hope you all had as much fun as we did and learnt a few things!

Photos shared with permission.

14/08/2026

Don't forget about our Roman Pottery workshop taking place today at Wareham Library at 2pm- we look forward to welcoming those that booked on with us! 🤩

🏺🌿 DATE CHANGE: Make Pottery Like a Roman! 🌿🏺

We have had to postpone our Roman pottery workshop, but we’re pleased to announce that it will now take place on:

📅 Friday 14 August 2026
🕑 2:00pm–4:00pm
📍 Wareham Library

We’re hoping that moving the workshop to a new date will give even more young archaeologists the opportunity to sign up and join us! 🏺✨

Although the new date falls outside the official Festival of Archaeology 2026 dates, the workshop will still be inspired by this year’s theme of Nature. 🌿

Young archaeologists will discover how the Romans made their pottery before creating their own Roman-inspired pot from air-dry clay to take home. We'd love you to bring along a few leaves, grasses or other natural treasures to press into the clay and create beautiful patterns.

🎟️ £5 per child – your booking fee goes directly to Wareham Town Museum to help cover the cost of materials and delivering the workshop. Every child gets to take their finished pot home!

You only need to book a space for the child taking part in the workshop.

⚠️ Places are limited, so booking is essential!
Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/roman-pottery-workshop-for-kids-wareham-town-museum-tickets-1993138343439?aff=oddtdtcreator

If you had already booked for the original date, please check your emails for details on transferring your booking or requesting a refund.

We hope to see lots of young archaeologists there! 🏺🌿✨

21/07/2026

🏺🌿 DATE CHANGE: Make Pottery Like a Roman! 🌿🏺

We have had to postpone our Roman pottery workshop, but we’re pleased to announce that it will now take place on:

📅 Friday 14 August 2026
🕑 2:00pm–4:00pm
📍 Wareham Library

We’re hoping that moving the workshop to a new date will give even more young archaeologists the opportunity to sign up and join us! 🏺✨

Although the new date falls outside the official Festival of Archaeology 2026 dates, the workshop will still be inspired by this year’s theme of Nature. 🌿

Young archaeologists will discover how the Romans made their pottery before creating their own Roman-inspired pot from air-dry clay to take home. We'd love you to bring along a few leaves, grasses or other natural treasures to press into the clay and create beautiful patterns.

🎟️ £5 per child – your booking fee goes directly to Wareham Town Museum to help cover the cost of materials and delivering the workshop. Every child gets to take their finished pot home!

You only need to book a space for the child taking part in the workshop.

⚠️ Places are limited, so booking is essential!
Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/roman-pottery-workshop-for-kids-wareham-town-museum-tickets-1993138343439?aff=oddtdtcreator

If you had already booked for the original date, please check your emails for details on transferring your booking or requesting a refund.

We hope to see lots of young archaeologists there! 🏺🌿✨

17/07/2026

🏺 NEW EXHIBITION NOW OPEN – DISCOVER THE DUROTRIGES 🏺

Step back over 2,000 years and experience Iron Age Dorset in a way that's never been seen before.

We're delighted to unveil our brand-new Durotriges Exhibition, featuring what we believe to be a museum first.

Since 2009, archaeologists from Bournemouth University have been excavating an extraordinary Iron Age and Roman site at Winterborne Kingston, uncovering more than 100 burials belonging to the Durotriges – the Iron Age people of Dorset.

What makes this exhibition so special is that you're not just seeing photographs of these remarkable discoveries. Instead, you'll see highly accurate 3D-printed replicas of the burials exactly as they were found in situ, created from detailed digital scans with millimetre-level accuracy.

In archaeology, once a burial has been excavated, its original arrangement can never be recreated. While photographs capture a single viewpoint, these 3D replicas preserve the burial in three dimensions, allowing visitors to appreciate the positioning, relationships and archaeological context exactly as it was recorded during excavation.

Created through a collaboration between Bournemouth University's archaeological team and the National Centre for Computer Animation, these models don't just help preserve archaeological information—they also make archaeology more accessible. Visitors can handle the replica models and explore them through touch, opening up a completely new way of experiencing the past for people who are blind or visually impaired, as well as anyone who enjoys a more hands-on museum experience.

📍 Now open at Wareham Town Museum
🎟️ Free admission (donations are always welcome!)

📻 Want to hear more? Tune in to BBC Radio Solent on Monday 20th at around 7:00am, where Steve Harris will be chatting with the team behind the project about the new exhibition, the archaeology of Winterborne Kingston, and how these innovative 3D-printed replicas could transform the way museums share archaeology with the public.

We can't wait to welcome you and hear what you think!

Please note this exhibit will be a permanent display in the museum.



Bournemouth University Department of Archaeology & Anthropology

14/07/2026

📢 Museum Closure & Temporary Saturday Opening Times

We're sorry, but Wareham Town Museum will be closed on Thursday 16th July to allow us to install an exciting new exhibition.

Our brand-new Durotriges exhibition (collab with Bournemouth University Department of Archaeology & Anthropology and NCCA at BU) will showcase fascinating 3D printed burials from Dorset's Iron Age past, and we can't wait to share it with you! Please bear with us while we transform the gallery, and we look forward to welcoming you back when we reopen on Friday 17th July.

We'd also like to let you know about a temporary change to our Saturday opening times. Due to volunteer availability, the museum will open at 11:00am (instead of 10:00am) on the following dates:

🕚 Saturday 18th July
🕚 Saturday 25th July
🕚 Saturday 1st August

Our usual 10:00am opening time will resume from Saturday 8th August.

Thank you, as always, for your understanding and continued support. We can't wait for you to see the new exhibition! 🏺✨

03/07/2026

🏺🌿 Make Pottery Like a Roman! 🌿🏺

Celebrate the Festival of Archaeology 2026 with Wareham Town Museum at this fun, hands-on pottery workshop for children, hosted at Wareham Library!

Young archaeologists will discover how the Romans made their pottery before creating their own Roman-inspired pot from air-dry clay to take home. This year's Festival theme is Nature, so we'd love you to bring along a few leaves, grasses or other natural treasures to press into the clay and create beautiful patterns.

📅 Friday 31st July 2026
🕑 2:00pm–4:00pm
📍 Wareham Library

🎟️ £5 per child – your booking fee goes directly to Wareham Town Museum to help cover the cost of materials and delivering the workshop. Every child gets to take their finished pot home!

You only need to book a space for the child taking part in the workshop.

⚠️ Places are limited, so booking is essential.

👉 Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/roman-pottery-workshop-for-kids-wareham-town-museum-tickets-1993138343439?aff=oddtdtcreator

02/07/2026

📢 Early Closing Today

We're sorry, but the museum will be closing early today at 3:30pm.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.

We'll be open again as usual tomorrow from 10:00am, and we look forward to welcoming you then! 😊

24/06/2026

☀️ Early Closing Today ☀️

Due to the extreme heat and to ensure the wellbeing of our volunteers and visitors, we will be closing early at 3:30pm today.

We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. We look forward to welcoming you back tomorrow!

Please remember to stay cool, stay hydrated, and take care in the hot weather! 🌡️💧

23/06/2026

🎉 A Fantastic Quiz Night Fundraiser! 🎉

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us on Friday evening for our Quiz Night fundraiser. We were delighted by the fantastic turnout and it was wonderful to see so many people coming together to support the museum while enjoying a fun and friendly evening.

The competition was fierce, the questions kept everyone thinking, and there was plenty of laughter throughout the night. A special congratulations to our lucky raffle winners, who went home with some fantastic prizes!

We're also delighted to share that the evening raised over £300 in donations towards the new museum. Every contribution helps bring us one step closer to creating an exciting new home for Wareham's history and heritage.

Thank you to everyone who attended, donated, bought raffle tickets, and helped make the event such a success. Your support means a great deal to us.