Dover Museum & Bronze Age Boat Gallery

Home to the oldest seagoing boat in the world, Dover Museum also houses a range of other fascinating exhibits showing the history and archaeology of this ancient port and town.

Dover Museum & Bronze Age Boat Gallery is an Attraction. Area Dover

Where

Market Square
Dover
Kent
CT16 1PH

What3words location

handbook.developed.surpassed

Useful info

Available: Accessible toilet/s
Available: Baby changing
Available: Blue badge/ accessible parking bay/s
Available: Coach parties welcome
Available: Family-friendly
Available: Guide dogs, Hearing dogs and Registered assistance dogs welcome
Available: Off-site parking (charges may apply)
Available: Public transport nearby
Available: Visitor toilet/s
Available: Wheelchair user friendly
Not available: Dog-friendly
Not available: Food and drink on site
Not available: Parking

Admission

Free entry

Contact

Dover Museum and Bronze Age Boat Gallery tells the story of the town and port since prehistoric times, with four galleries arranged over three floors behind the building's original Victorian façade.

The ground floor gallery traces Dover’s history from the Stone Age to the Saxons, including the building of Dover’s Roman forts, with displays of local archaeological finds and outstanding Saxon jewellery from the British Museum’s collection.

The story continues in the first floor History Gallery, the largest in the museum. Scale models chart the development of the growing town and port, surrounded by cases of the best of the museum’s collection – see armour, art, and dioramas of Dover’s past. A section of this gallery covers Frontline Dover and the town’s vital role in wartime Britain.

Bronze Age Boat Gallery

The award-winning Bronze Age Boat Gallery on the second floor of the museum tells the story of this internationally significant archaeological discovery and its implications for understanding the Bronze Age.

See a large collection of treasures from that period and view a short film describing the excavation and conservation of the boat.

In September 1992, archaeologists in Dover made a remarkable discovery – a prehistoric wooden boat thought to be 3,600 years old; the world's oldest-known sea-going vessel.

After nearly a month of excavation, 9.5 metres of the boat was successfully recovered and preserved. Following seven years of research and conservation, the boat came back to Dover and is now proudly on display in a specially constructed chamber.

The Dover Bronze Age Boat
The Dover Bronze Age Boat
The Dover Bronze Age Boat

Mezzanine gallery and stairwells

The mezzanine gallery and front stairwell host annually changing exhibitions covering all aspects of the district’s history. Past subjects include The Dover Pageant, Operation Dynamo, Smuggling and The Goodwin Sands.

The back stairwell displays a permanent exhibition about channel swimming, with tales of this amazing feat of endurance from Captain Matthew Webb's first successful crossing in 1875 to the present day.

Visitors unable to access the stairs can borrow copies of the exhibition panels from the front desk.

The ground-floor Archaeology Gallery
The polar bear at the top of the stairs - a favourite of local school children - brought to Dover from an 1897 Arctic expedition.
The History Gallery

Visitor Information Centre and Gift Shop

The Visitor Information Centre and shop are situated at the museum's entrance. Here you can find out about other attractions and activities, book coach and ferry tickets and buy a memento of your visit. The shop also sells books, maps, cards, homeware and gifts for all occasions, along with souvenirs of Dover and Great Britain.

Accessibility

The museum has a ramped entrance, level floors, lift to all galleries and accessible toilet.

Schools and Education

Dover Museum offers a wide range of cross-curricular workshops for Key Stage 1, 2 & 3 pupils throughout the school year. Please see their website for full details.