The museum entrance is at the right hand side of the picture

Dartmouth Museum is a local museum in Dartmouth, Devon, which displays and chronicles the history of the port of Dartmouth. It moved to its current location in the 1950s and is housed in a merchant's house which, in 1671, entertained Charles II and where he held court during a storm which forced him to stay in the port.[1] The museum is run by the Dartmouth Museum Association, a registered charity.[2]

The museum was refurbished during the winters of 2010 and 2011[3] and has a large collection of models of sailing ships, and of ships in bottles.[4] The latter is referred to as the Dawe Collection. The museum building itself is part of the exhibition[5] which includes local records and photographs, and a plaster ceiling believed to be unique showing the Tree of Jesse. The museum also houses the Henley Collection, a collection of artefacts and scientific material collected by William Henley (1860-1919), all of which were previously part of a separate museum on Dartmouth's Anzac Street.[6]

The entrance to the museum is in Dartmouth's Butterwalk, via a spiral staircase built counterclockwise around a ship's mast.

References

  1. ^ "The Kings Room, Dartmouth Museum". Dartmouth Museum. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2011. King Charles II was entertained in July 1671, when storms forced him to seek shelter in Dartmouth.
  2. ^ "Dartmouth Museum, registered charity no. 306635". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  3. ^ "Dartmouth Museum Moves Forward". By The Dart. May 2011. pp. 66–67. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  4. ^ Evans, Martin H; West, Janet (2011). "Maritime Museums: main alphabetical list". Retrieved 5 May 2011. Large collection of ship models, incl ships in bottles, bone PoW & glass ship models. Marine & other paintings. Large archive of local photographs. ARC. Edu BA. Museum is in a 17C merchant's house & has been refurbished.
  5. ^ "Cornucopia - Dartmouth Museum". Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2011. Star objects at this location: The museum building itself; the collection of ship models; the collection of photographs.
  6. ^ "New Display at Dartmouth Museum". Dartmouth News. 13 July 2006. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2011. William Henley (1860-1919) was one of the most remarkable sons of Dartmouth. He was a local ironmonger who, in a lifetime search for knowledge, became a self taught and talented artist, naturalist and botanist, and scientific microscopist. His many water-colours form a unique record of the town at the end of the nineteenth century.

External links

50°21′07″N 3°34′43″W / 50.3519°N 3.5786°W / 50.3519; -3.5786

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