The award-winning Museum, in Dorchester, is renowned for its use of actual fossils, skeletons, and life-size dinosaur reconstructions combined with video, hands on, computer and CD-ROM displays to excite, enthral, and entertain the visitor. The Dinosaur Museum has been extensively featured on television and has become nationally famous for its innovative, adventurous and friendly approach. It has been voted Dorset's Family Attraction of the Year.
Dinosaurs ruled the land for some 140 million years, finally becoming extinct 65 million years ago. Our fascination with dinosaurs started in the 1820s when the first true discoveries of dinosaur bones were made in England. Then in 1841 Sir Richard Owen invented the word "dinosaurian" - meaning 'terrible lizard' - to describe this group of prehistoric monsters. Dinosaur fever was created and over 150 years later, these prehistoric creatures are still exciting people's imaginations. This sense of "dinomania" is reflected in The Dinosaur Museum.
At this World Heritage museum the visitor immediately encounters a complete skeleton of the famous meat-eating dinosaur Megalosaurus, with its sickle-shaped claws and teeth, mounted over a set of footprints made by that dinosaur. Megalosaurus was the first dinosaur to be scientifically named 175 years ago, by Reverend William Buckland. This skeleton vividly contrasts with the skeleton of the small fleet-footed vegetarian dinosaur Hypsilophodon.
Among the most dramatic of the displays are the awe-inspiring life-size dinosaur reconstructions. There are two Tyrannosaurus rex - the largest meat-eating land animal ever; a Stegosaurus with its strangely shaped ridge of plates along its back; a Corythosaurus one of the duckbilled dinosaurs and affectionately known as 'Dina' by her many fans; and outside Triceratops dominates the Museum's courtyard. They beg to be touched by little hands and that's encouraged, as is the handling of some of the fossils.
There are many things to touch and do at the Museum, such as the 'feely' box where you can find out what a dinosaur really felt like - if you dare! The Colour Box allows you to experiment with various colour combinations to see what colour a dinosaur might have been - no one really knows, as colour doesn't fossilise. Computerised displays allow you to compare yourself to a dinosaur, and investigate the many types of dinosaur that existed. The Dinosaur Museum has twice been voted one of Britain's top ten hands on museums.
Evolution is a strange concept. What would have happened had the dinosaurs not become extinct? The Dinosaur Museum has a possible answer, ' Dinosaurid' - made famous by Blue Peter - is an upright rather alien looking creature. It has to be seen to be believed!
Three dimensional displays and exhibits are complemented by a wealth of informative graphical and pictorial material making the museum a first class interpretive centre. Displays are in general thematic in approach and stratified vertically with simple facts low down and more in-depth information higher up. The Dinosaur Museum is regularly featured on television appearing in documentaries, children's and entertainment programmes.
The Museum opened to the public in June of 1984. It received great acclaim from educationalist, museum curators and the public and went on to be nominated for the European Museum of the Year award in 1986.
The 'Dinosaur Discovery' Gallery is filled with all sorts of new hands on displays such as magnetic dinosaur skeletons to reconstruct, and dinosaur feelies to feel the difference between the teeth of vegetarian and carnivorous dinosaurs. Feel A Fossil allows the visitor to see if the can identify fossils many millions of years old purely by touch. Discover the various sounds that dinosaurs may have made, and generate the amount of calories needed to run different dinosaur brains. With the aid of the Walkasaurus visitors can even walk like a dinosaur! There are Electronic Discovery Pens and CD-ROM displays which aid discovery of more about these fascinating creatures.
A special gallery has been opened, called the Mary Anning Room of Time, to celebrate the life of Mary Anning who lived and collected fossils in Dorset and became nationally famous at an early age for the spectacular fossilised marine reptile skeletons she found. This gallery explores the vast length of time over which the Earth has evolved in relation to the different life forms that are represented in the fossil record. The visitor is taken on a journey form the earliest trilobites through the time of the dinosaurs to the time of mammals until finally early humans evolve.The Dinosaur Museum is excellent fun for all ages. There are free fun sheets for all children to help them make the most of their visit.
For information on opening times and prices visit The Dinosaur Museum website.
