About Dover Museum

Market Square,
Dover, Kent, UK CT16 1PB

Tel: 01304 201066
Fax: 01304 241186

Open: 10.00am - 17.30pm Monday to Saturday (closed on Sundays)

E-mail: museumenquiries@dover.gov.uk

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 new addition to the museum this year has been the recently opened Dover Bronze Age Boat gallery.  This major new 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 ground floor exhibitions trace Dover's history from the Stone Age to the Saxons, and include Britain's earliest shipwreck, 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 about Victorian Dover.

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 newly opened Dover Bronze Age Boat Gallery is a major new gallery in Kent - displaying the Dover Boat, the world's oldest known seagoing boat.

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.

Dover Museum can provide prints and transparencies of objects in its collection, both for home study use, and for commercial reproduction. Contact the museum for more details.

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.

The museum shop sells a large range of souvenirs and local history material including books and videos. Including the NEW History of Dover Harbour, 1920 to 1996, a VHS video of archive footage of the development of the harbour and the cross-channel ferries and hovercraft.

We are hoping to be able to offer a mail order service soon, for a selection of local history books and prints from the Dover Museum collection.

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.