About the Museum
Dover Museum is one
of the oldest museums in Kent, founded over 150 years ago in
1836.
In 1991 the museum was rehoused in a new three-storey building
behind its original Victorian facade. The history galleries tell
the story of the development of the town and port with original
objects, graphics and models.
A recent addition to the museum has been the Dover Bronze
Age Boat gallery. This major archaeology gallery tells
the story of the excavation and preservation of the Dover Boat, as
well as exploring major themes of the Bronze Age, using artefacts,
replicas, models, video, computer interactives, hands-on exhibits
and illustrated panels.
(Much of the information is presented in a range of languages -
English, French, German, Spanish or Dutch).
The Galleries
The ground floor exhibition traces
Dover's history from the Stone Age to the
Saxons, and include the building of Dover's Roman forts and
gorgeous Saxon jewellery from the collections of the British
Museum.
The first floor is devoted to a special exhibition which changes
annually
The top floor gallery is the largest. Six scale models clearly
show the growing town and port of Dover since medieval times,
surrounded by cases of the best of the museum's collections. A
central information desk gives guidance and information to visitors
who wish to know more of Dover's past.
The Dover Bronze Age
Boat Gallery is a major archaeology gallery in
Kent and of national importance - displaying the Dover Boat,
the world's oldest known seagoing boat.
Visitor Services Enquiries
Dover Museum answers enquiries from the public : any enquiries
on all aspects of Dover's history should be sent to Dover Museum at
the address above or e-mailed to museumenquiries@dover.gov.uk
. Enquiries usually take up to 3 weeks to answer.
Photographic Service
Dover Museum can provide scans, prints and transparencies of
objects in its collection, both for home study use, and for
commercial reproduction. Contact the museum for more details.
Research Library
The museum has a comprehensive research and picture library on
the history of the Dover District, with specialist archives on
Cinque Port Pilots, Channel swimming, channel shipping, and the Ray
Warner archive of 16mm film of Dover from 1945 to 1992. The
research library is open Monday to Friday by appointment only.
Museum Shop
The museum shop sells a large range of souvenirs and local
history material including books and videos, including the 'History
of Dover Harbour, 1920 to 1996', a DVD of archive footage of the
development of the harbour and the cross-channel ferries and
hovercraft.
We offer a mail order service for a selection of local history
books and prints from the Dover Museum collection.
Other Services
As well as local history enquiries, Dover Museum offers other
local services : an identification service for 'mystery' objects
brought in to the museum; access to our local history library by
appointment; and the museum staff are able to give talks and
conduct guided walks for organisations such as schools, adult
education groups, Women's Institutes, Retirement clubs, etc.