Opening Times

1 April - 30 September
Tues - Sat
10:00 - 16:00

1 October - 31 March
Tues - Fri
10:00 - 16:00

Mondays
By Appointment only - Tel 01935 424774

Free Admission

The history of South Somerset can now be experienced in the splendid displays of the newly refurbished Museum of South Somerset.   From Prehistoric and Roman occupation, through to agricultural and industrial revolutions, the Museum of South Somerset shows, in an imaginative and exciting way, what rural life and times through the ages was really like.

Visitors will discover artefacts of a past and passing age set in scenes that recapture the atmosphere of their time.
Housed in the former coach house to Hendford Manor, the Museum of South Somerset's modern displays draw upon many different collections brought together by Alderman W.R.E. Mitchelmore, Mayor of Yeovil from 1918 - 1921.  Over the years benefactors have donated other important collections, including those of fossils, firearms. glassware and costume.

The impressive upper gallery features a reconstructed Roman dining room and kitchen complete with original mosaics recreated from excavations of elegant villas found at Westland, Lufton and Ilchester.   There are also displays of local prehistory and geology.  A period Georgian house provides intriguing glimpses into the museum's glassware, costume and social history collections.  Items from the museum's firearms, pottery and painting collections are also exhibited and changed regularly.

The lower gallery of the coach house features South Somerset's association with leather and glove manufacturing, flax and hemp production, engineering, stone working and newspaper printing.  Women outworkers can be seen sewing gloves in the cramped conditions of their cottage, a reminder of a recently bygone era in South Somerset.

History in the Playground

The museum of South Somerset in Conjunction with the Community Resource Centre has recently been successful in getting a grant from the Department of Education and Employment for a pilot for an out of school project to tap into exciting learning opportunities for young people.  The grant is part of £140, 000 funding for 17 projects announced by Schools Minister Charles Clarke aimed at forging greater links between schools and their communities and Museums and Galleries.  The project aims to look at and record the contemporary playground games, and to get children to look at the games, and toys from the past and learn some of the older games and rhymes which are peculiar to South Somerset.  The project initially will involve four schools in South Somerset.  The children will be inviting their parents and grandparents to teach them some of the games they used to play.  It is hoped that the children will learn some of these games and use them during their break times to increase their activity levels.   This is a tremendous opportunity for the Schools and children and the local community  to look at life in the past and to see that children have changed very little but some of their toys and games have!