Between 2015 and 2018 Dorset History Centre undertook the ‘Unlocking the Bankes archive‘ project. During the life of this project, staff and volunteers contributed well over 100 blogs to the project website. By 2024, this project website was no longer functional in the way it originally was, and we made the decision to close the… Read more Smallpox and the Bankes Family
Coasts in Mind is exploring coastal change through the lives and memories of the diverse communities around Poole Harbour’s shores and rivers. Hazel and Oliver are excited to share the project with DHC readers in this blog, and to offer training opportunities for young people and youth groups! Coasts in Mind has three main aims…… Read more Coasts in Mind
Welcome to our annual Year in Review, highlighting the varied work of the Archives and Records team, from archival documents to archaeological finds, and vital active records. We are glad to work with partners across Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole; something we as a small service would not be able to do without collaborative… Read more Year in Review: 2025
Merry Christmas from all of the team at Dorset History Centre! We hope you have a peaceful and relaxing festive season, and we look forward to welcoming you to Dorset History Centre in 2026. — A reminder of our opening hours over this festive period: We will be open with our usual opening hours (9am-5pm)… Read more Merry Christmas from Dorset History Centre
It’s that season where we start to think about whether we will get snow for Christmas. We thought we’d look back through the archives at snow in Dorset over the years. Weymouth bay saw ice in 1963, cars being dug out, picturesque Dorset cottages and fields covered in a gentle white sprinkling like icing sugar… Read more Dreaming of a White Christmas…
Over a couple of weeks in November and December 2025 we undertook our now annual Collections Fortnight. This is a time we close to the public to work on our collections behind-the-scenes, addressing projects we otherwise would not be able to when we are open. This year was a complicated year, as short-term plans had… Read more Collections Fortnight 2025: What Did We Do?
Brownsea Island was acquired by the National Trust in 1962 and opened to the public in 1963. Since then it has served as a valuable nature reserve and a popular scenic retreat for holiday makers. Its success as a significant Dorset landmark is owed in no small part to the efforts of the volunteers that… Read more The Early Days of the Brownsea Island Volunteer Wardens
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Barbary corsairs – pirates from the Barbary Coast of North Africa – regularly attacked the ships and coastlines of European countries. Not only that, but they took thousands of men, women and children as captives, holding them to ransom or forcing them into slavery. While the existence of… Read more The Barbary Pirates in Dorset
Halloween and Bonfire Night have come and gone, and we have remembered those who fought in various conflicts. Now the race is on for Christmas. However, there is an old tradition where, at the end of November, the last Sunday before Advent which this year falls on Sunday 23rd November 2025, “Stir-Up Sunday” is celebrated.… Read more Stir-up Sunday!
Between Monday 24 November and Saturday 6 December 2025, Dorset History Centre will be closed to the public for two weeks for our annual Collections Fortnight. This period offers us a chance to work on collections and material which need attention, but that we are otherwise unable to get to when we are open. You… Read more Collections Fortnight 2025
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