10 Museums to Explore in Somerset

Blake Museum is a 16th century house located in the heart of Bridgwater, a historic market town and port, first mentioned as Brugie in the Domesday Book of 1086. It is the local museum for archaeology and history of Bridgwater. With the collections covering Bridgwater and the surrounding areas, we have fascinating displays waiting for you to discover.

Chard Museum and Heritage Centre is a museum located in the village of Chard near the border with Devon. Exhibits include the history of Chard, historical agricultural equipment, a display on cider making, a 1960's exhibit, a blacksmith's forge display and an exhibit on John Stringfellow, who worked in Chard and was a pioneer of powered flying machines.

The National Park Centre at Dunster has been recently refurbished, and you will find interactive exhibits, a video microscope and new displays that introduce you to the special habitats that can be found on Exmoor. Visit the exhibition room and take the time to see our HD film introducing the National Park.

Fleet Air Arm Museum is one of the largest regional aviation museums in NSW, containing over 30 aircraft and numerous aviation artefacts tell the story of Australian Naval Aviation and the development of the Royal Australian Navy's Fleet Air Arm. At the entrance to the museum are anchors from HMS Ark Royal and HMS Eagle, fleet carriers which served the Royal Navy until the 1970s. It is located 7 miles north of Yeovil, and 40 miles south of Bristol.

Haynes International Motor Museum, at Sparkford in Somerset offers an excellent day out for everyone. It contains over 400 cars and motorcycles and a collection of other automobilia. The museum also has an outdoor children's play area, Autogame Experience including penny arcade games of the 1950s and 1960s, retro 1980s classics and 1990s favourites such as 'Sega Rally'.

The Museum of Somerset lies within the 12th century Taunton Castle and tells the county’s fascinating story from prehistoric times to the present day, using real objects, interactive games, eye-catching film projections and the words and voices of Somerset people, past and present. Exhibits include the Frome Hoard, the Low Ham Roman Mosaic, the bronze-age South Cadbury shield and a range of other objects relating to the history of the county.

The Somerset Rural Life Museum is situated in Glastonbury, Somerset, UK. It is a museum of the social and agricultural history of Somerset, housed in buildings surrounding a 14th-century barn once belonging to Glastonbury Abbey. Explore rural life from the 1800s onwards and discover the county’s heritage including its landscape, food and farming, working life and rural crafts. The farmhouse and cowsheds are home to galleries and exhibition spaces, including permanent and temporary displays.

The Shoe Museum, based in Street, Somerset, houses more than 1500 shoes from Roman to modern day. The Museum also tells the story of Clarks from its beginnings in the early 19th century. It showed the history of the Clark family and their company C. & J. Clark and its connection with the development of shoemaking in the town. The Clarks started making slippers, shoes and boots in the town in the 1820s and the company grew, introducing mechanised processes in the 1860s.

The Wells Museum was founded by Herbert Balch in 1893. He was a naturalist, caver and geologist who pioneered many of the techniques used by modern cavers. The exhibits include items of local history and archaeological finds. It has permanent and temporary exhibitions, along with a series of events throughout the year

The Yeovil Railway Centre is a small railway museum at Yeovil Junction on the L&SWR West of England Main Line between Salisbury and Exeter in the U.K. It was created in 1993, in response to British Rail's decision to remove the turntable from Yeovil Junction. Approximately ¼ mile of track along the Clifton Maybank spur is used for demonstration trains.