WHAT: One of Dorset’s leading museums

WHERE: High West Street, Dorchester DT1 1XA

CONTACT: 01305 262735 and dorsetcountymuseum.org

OPEN: April to October: 10am to 5pm, Mon - Sat, November to March: 10am to 4pm, Tues - Sat

COST: £6.50 plus concessions and family rates

FACILITIES: Café, wheelchair user entry and free carer £5. Disabled access to the ground floor and to the Jurassic Coast Gallery on the first floor via a lift.

DETAILS: A treasure trove of Dorset life including massive pliosaur jawbones, skeletons of men who died protecting Maiden Castle from the Romans, a Roman mosaic pavement, a celebration of rural Dorset, a tribute to Dorset writers William Barnes and Thomas Hardy and a model of the Eldridge Pope brewery. The exhibition Whirrs, Cogs and Thingamabobs is running and will be followed on October 15 by an Egyptian exhibition and on October 22 by a celebration of art inspired by Cranborne Chase. There is also a club for children.