Wareham Town Museum

13/10/2026

It’s so sad to share the news of the loss of our wonderful Keith Burt. ❤️

Although Keith was a member of the grounds team, he always went out of his way to help us in the Museum, whether that was painting exhibits, helping us move things around, tackling maintenance jobs or simply checking in on our volunteers. He even put on a brilliant vinyl night for us earlier this year!

I’m also pretty sure he knew our museum video word for word! 😊

His smile, energy and willingness to help will be so greatly missed. My thoughts are with his lovely wife Lynn and everyone whose lives were brightened simply by knowing him.

Thank you, Keith, for everything. I’ll forever miss your photobombing. Never forgotten. ❤️
- Katie x

https://www.wareham-tc.gov.uk/2026/10/a-sad-day-for-wareham/

08/10/2026

📖 A little piece of T. E. Lawrence’s library, now on display.

We’re delighted to have a rather special book on display in our T. E. Lawrence collection at Wareham Town Museum.

The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, published in 1900, was once part of T. E. Lawrence’s personal library at Clouds Hill.

The book is particularly interesting because it contains Lawrence’s handwritten annotations. On page 86, he has pencilled in modern place names alongside the older spellings in the text, including Latakia, Markab, Jebail, Caipha and Athlit.

His initials, “T.E.L.”, can also be found pencilled inside the book. ✍️

We currently have the book open at this fascinating page, giving visitors a chance to see a small but very personal connection to Lawrence himself.

📍 Come and see it in our Lawrence collection at Wareham Town Museum.

We’re very grateful to the T.E. Lawrence Society for this wonderful loan and for allowing us to share this fascinating piece of Lawrence’s history with our visitors. ❤️

07/10/2026

📢 CHANGES TO OUR OPENING HOURS THIS WEEK

Please note that there will be a couple of changes to our opening hours this week:

📅 Thursday 8th October – We will be closing early at 2pm.

📅 Saturday 10th October – The museum will be CLOSED all day due to Wareham Beerex taking place in the town hall.

We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. 💙

We will be back to our usual opening hours from Monday 12th October.

🍺 If you’re heading to Beerex, have a fantastic time! 🎉

23/09/2026

📢 Early Closure Tomorrow

A little reminder that Wareham Town Museum will be closing early tomorrow (Thursday 24th September) at 2pm.

This is so our wonderful volunteers have the chance to attend our organised talk on T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). ❤️

We’re sorry for any inconvenience and really appreciate your understanding!

🏛️ We’ll be back open as usual on Friday 25th September from 10am.

Thank you for your continued support! 💛

22/09/2026

📣 THIS THURSDAY – JOIN US FOR AN AFTERNOON WITH T. E. LAWRENCE!

Fancy an afternoon exploring the fascinating world of T. E. Lawrence and his experiences in Arabia?

Just a reminder that this Thursday 24th September, we’ll be welcoming historian, visual artist and author George Thompson to Wareham for a fascinating talk based on his acclaimed book Seeing Arabia.

Published in 2024, Seeing Arabia explores Lawrence’s remarkable wartime photography, looking at his images not simply as historical records, but as visual works in their own right. George offers a fascinating new perspective on Lawrence as a visual thinker and on his experiences during the First World War.

🎙️ George brings a unique perspective to the subject, combining his background as a historian and visual artist with more than 25 years of academic experience.

Whether you're a long-time Lawrence enthusiast, interested in photography and history, or simply curious to discover more about one of the most fascinating figures of the 20th century, this promises to be a really interesting afternoon!

📅 Thursday 24 September 2026
🕑 2pm
📍 The Corn Exchange, Town Hall, Wareham
🎟️ FREE ENTRY – Donations encouraged

👉 Free places are available via Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/.../george-thompson-seeing

❤️ Please share this post with anyone who might be interested – we’d love to see you there!

18/09/2026

📢 Temporary Change to Opening Hours

Just a quick heads-up for our visitors! 😊

Wareham Town Museum will be closed to the general public on Monday (21st) morning, from 10am–12pm, as we’ll be welcoming our lovely local Forget Me Not group for a private visit.

💙 We’ll be back open to everyone from 12pm on Monday lunchtime, so please come along and see us then!

Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to welcoming you to the museum! 🏛️✨

17/09/2026

🏛️ WE HAVE SOME VERY EXCITING NEWS! 🎉

Our GoFundMe page for the future of Wareham Town Museum is now LIVE! ❤️

We are incredibly excited to be working towards our brand-new museum at 2 North Street: a bigger, more accessible space where we can share the amazing history of Wareham and Purbeck with our local community and visitors from around the world.

From thousands of years of archaeology and our pioneering Durotriges exhibition, to our very special connection with T. E. Lawrence - Lawrence of Arabia, there are so many incredible stories waiting to be told.

But turning an empty building into a museum takes a lot of work... and that's where you can help! 🏛️✨

We've launched a £10,000 community fundraising campaign to help us bring the new museum to life, supporting things such as new displays, interpretation, accessibility, learning resources, archaeology and archive facilities, and much more.

Whether you can donate £5, £10, £50 or more, every single contribution will help us take another step towards creating something really special.

And if you can't donate, sharing our fundraiser is just as helpful - especially if you know someone who loves Wareham, archaeology, museums or perhaps even Lawrence of Arabia! 🌍

This is a museum for Wareham, but its stories reach far beyond Wareham.

❤️ Please help us build the future of Wareham Town Museum!

👉 https://gofund.me/fb76e54fd

All funds raised will go directly to Wareham Town Council and will be ringfenced exclusively for Wareham Town Museum and its expansion project.

Thank you so much for supporting us - we really couldn't do it without you! ❤️🏛️

- Katie (Museum Co-ordinator)

Lawrence

From ancient archaeology to Lawrence of Arabia - help us create a new muse… Katie Seal needs your support for Help Build the Future of Wareham Town Museum!

10/09/2026

🚨 Early Closure Tomorrow

We’re sorry for the inconvenience, but Wareham Town Museum will be closing early tomorrow at 2pm.

Apologies for any disappointment, and thank you for your understanding. ❤️

We’ll be back open as usual on Saturday from 10am. 🏛️

We hope to see you then! 😊