Poole Museum

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The entrance to Poole Museum The new Poole Museum 3.png
The entrance to Poole Museum

Poole Museum (formerly known as the Waterfront Museum) is a maritime museum, gallery and cultural centre, situated on the Lower High Street in the Old Town area of Poole, Dorset, and is owned by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. Entrance to Poole Museum is free, [1] and the museum was the fifth most visited free attraction in South West England in 2015. [2]

Contents

The Local History Centre is attached to the museum in a Grade I listed medieval town cellars. [3] Poole Museum Service also manages Scaplen's Court Museum and Garden, situated next to Poole Museum.

History

The Poole logboat is the centrepiece of the museum Town Cellars with the 2,000 year old Logboat in the centre.jpg
The Poole logboat is the centrepiece of the museum

The Poole Museum opened in 1989 in a 19th-century harbour warehouse. A major refurbishment of the museum took place in 2005 at a cost of £1,300,000 funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and local fundraising. [4] The renovated museum opened in July 2007 including a terrace, visitor lounge, and new glass atrium entrance designed by Richard Horden of Horden Cherry Lee Architects. [1]

In 2021, the museum was given a £2.24 million grant by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. [5] In May 2022 it was reported that redevelopment costs had increased by 20%. [6] The museum closed for renovation in December 2022 with plans to reopen in late 2024. [7] In May 2023, the Poole Logboat was removed into safe storage. [8]

The Poole Museum reopened in November 2025 after a seven-year redevelopment project costing £10 million. All three of the museum's historic buildings were restored, and three new maritime galleries were opened. [9] The main focus of one of their new galleries is a preserved 13th-century shipwreck known as Mortar Wreck, alongside various artifacts the vessel was carrying when it sank. [10]

The centrepiece of the museum is the 2,000-year-old Poole Logboat, an Iron Age vessel which was found in 1964 during dredging work in Poole Harbour. [4]

References

  1. 1 2 "Discovering Poole - An Artist's Haven". Poole Borough Council. 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  2. ↑ Wilson, Kate (17 August 2016). "Most visited attraction in Dorset? Poole Museum!". Bournemouth Daily Echo . Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "The Waterfront Museum, Local History Centre (1217514)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Museum finally set to open doors". BBC News. 11 July 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
  5. ↑ "Poole Museum gets £2.2m lottery grant for revamp". BBC News. 10 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  6. ↑ "Poole Museum redevelopments costs increase by £1.4m". BBC News. 13 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "Poole Museum goes on tour during renovation work". BBC News. 6 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  8. ↑ "Poole Museum: Iron Age logboat moved ahead of revamp". BBC News. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  9. ↑ Adams, Geraldine Kendall (31 October 2025). "Poole Museum to reopen after seven-year transformation". Museums Journal. Museums Association. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  10. ↑ Kuta, Sarah (11 December 2025). "You Can Now See 750-Year-Old Artifacts Recovered From England's Oldest Shipwreck". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 12 December 2025.

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