Weymouth has a new and exciting new pop-up museum at 39 St Thomas Street.
For the next two years, it will be the temporary home of Weymouth Museum while the refurbishment at Brewers Quay continues. Given the length of time before a new Museum will open, Weymouth Museum Trust, the charity which oversees the Museum collection, has taken a lease on a shop unit to provide a pop-up museum. The aims of this are:
- To provide a physical presence for Weymouth Museum so that it is not forgotten by the community or stakeholders
- To enable public engagement with the collections, so that the new museum is developed in collaboration with the wider community and a variety of different audiences
- To provide a programme of changing exhibitions and events, and to test different ideas for the new museum
- To provide a space that can be used by participants in the ACE-funded Dorset Town of Culture programme in 2025, and afterwards by Weymouth’s creative community
- To provide a fundraising hub where we can showcase our role as a centre for cultural participation and engagement.
The Museum holds good collections showing the history of Weymouth from medieval times. It has strengths in Georgian and Victorian collections and is collecting 20th-century and contemporary material. It has a good art collection and an excellent collection of photographs from the 1880s onwards.
The Museum is entirely staffed by volunteers. There are 32 volunteers who work either at the Pop-up or at the Granby, where the majority of the collection is held. At the Granby, they conserve and catalogue over 20,000 items in the whole collection.
In addition, the local history unit runs out of this venue. Under the guidance of a qualified archivist, it conserves our extensive local history archive and answers questions from the public about matters of local history. It is widely used. There are no paid staff, although the Museum uses the services of a freelance museum professional and receives advice from the County Museums Adviser.
The pop-up is light and airy, and over the summer, there is an exhibition on George III as well as other items. This had been enhanced by a talk given by Allan Brodie from the Seaside Heritage Network on Weymouth‘s development as a seaside resort.
Exhibitions in the Autumn will feature Weymouth’s railways and one on the paintings of Eric Ricketts, the notable Weymouth Historian and architect.
It has free admission and is open 10-2 Monday to Saturday. The Photographic Club also has an exhibition in there, and this features delightful shots of Weymouth by its members.
