Poole Museum is a local history

Local history

Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context and it often concentrates on the local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history...

 museum situated on the Lower High Street in the Old Town area of Poole

Poole

Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...

, Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, and is part of the Borough of Poole Museum Service. Entrance to Poole Museum is free.

History

Opened in 1989 and set in an 19th century harbour warehouse, Poole Museum illustrates the story of the town and its people. A major refurbishment of the museum took place in 2005 at a cost of £1.3 million funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund

Heritage Lottery Fund

The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...

 and local fundraising. The renovated museum opened in July 2007 with new public facilities including a terrace and a visitor lounge with views over Poole Harbour

Poole Harbour

Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being the Frome. The harbour has a long history of human settlement...

 and the Old Town and a new glass atrium

Atrium (architecture)

In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...

 entrance designed by architects Horden Cherry Lee. The centre piece of the museum is the 2,000 year old Poole Logboat

Poole Logboat

The Poole Logboat is an ancient logboat made from a single oak tree. It was excavated in the town of Poole, Dorset, England. The boat is over 2,200 years old and is estimated through carbon dating to have been constructed around 300–200 BCE. The Iron Age vessel was unearthed in 1964 during dredging...

, an Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 vessel which was found in 1964 during dredging work in Poole Harbour. The museum also has a floor devoted to the history of Poole Pottery

Poole Pottery

Poole Pottery is a pottery manufacturer, originally based in Poole, Dorset, England. The company was founded in 1873 on Poole quayside, where it continued to produce pottery by hand before moving its factory operations away from the quay in 1999. Production continued at the new site in Sopers Lane...

 and some of the company's products are on display. Other galleries have displays telling the history of Poole from prehistory

Prehistory

Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...

 through to the 21st century.

Attached to the main Poole Museum building, in the Grade I listed medieval town cellars, is the Local History Centre containing an extensive library of material involving Poole's heritage supported by microfilmed and digitised material. Poole Museum Service also manages Scaplen's Court Museum and Garden, situated next to Poole Museum. This is a Grade I listed medieval townhouse, which is opened to the public in August. The Garden is open May to September.

Exhibitions

From April 2009 until 28 February 2010, the museum is showing a temporary exhibition called "Discovering Poole: an artists' haven 1850–1950". The exhibition focuses on the work of some of Britain's leading 19th and early 20th century artists whose work was inspired by Poole and Poole Harbour. Artists featured include L.S. Lowry, Henry Lamb

Henry Lamb

Henry Taylor Lamb, MC, RA was an Australian-born British painter. A follower of Augustus John, he was a founder member of the Camden Town Group.Born in Adelaide, Australia, he was the son of Sir Horace Lamb FRS...

, Philip Wilson Steer

Philip Wilson Steer

Philip Wilson Steer OM was a British painter of landscape and occasional portraits and figure studies. He was a leading figure in the Impressionist movement in Britain.-Life and work:...

, and Roger Fry

Roger Fry

Roger Eliot Fry was an English artist and art critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent developments in French painting, to which he gave the name Post-Impressionism...

. Based on the museum's own fine art collection, the exhibition also features loans from the National Maritime Museum

National Maritime Museum

The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...

, the National Museum of Wales, Dorset County Museum

Dorset County Museum

The Dorset County Museum is located in Dorchester, Dorset, England. Founded in 1846, the museum covers the county of Dorset's history and environment. The current building was built in 1881 on the former site of the George Inn...

 and the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum

Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum

The Russell-Cotes Museum is an art gallery and museum in Bournemouth, England. It is located on the top of the East Cliff, next to the Royal Bath Hotel.-History and collections:...

. Entrance to the exhibition is free.