Last week, I found myself at the museum in Dorchester.

I was being shown plans for the splendid renovation and expansion of the museum which is now moving forward apace.

Nor is this just a local endeavour. Very senior figures from the British Museum were also present – and it’s clear that the close ties which have been established between Dorchester and the British Museum in recent years are, if anything, going to grow closer in the years to come.

So we are on the verge of having in our county town not only a magnificently restored and expanded museum of our own but also a planet in the solar system of which, what is probably the greatest museum on earth, forms the sun.

I have no doubt whatsoever that, as well as giving great pleasure to thousands of local people and providing happy, instructive hours for multitudes of local children, the glistening new museum will also attract many thousands of additional tourists and thereby help to provide jobs and prosperity in West Dorset. We certainly shouldn’t underestimate the part that culture and history now play in our local economy.

The museum in Dorchester is of course only one of a chain of splendid institutions that have established themselves across West Dorset over a very long period.

The museums in Bridport and Lyme Regis, to name but two other examples, are remarkable institutions in their own right and each contributes significantly to what is rightly coming to be seen as a gateway to the Jurassic Coast.

But even these three significant civic museums are just the beginning of a panoply of places and institutions that can act as a magnet to attract cultural tourism. As well as the many smaller museums and our splendid literary and arts festivals, there are of course the more specialised centres in places like Charmouth, the extraordinary range of houses from Hardy’s Cottage to Forde Abbey and as fine an array of rural ecclesiastical gems as can be found anywhere in Europe.