The Dinosaur Museum News » Museum Events

Half-Term Great Dinosaur Hunt

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:18:19 +0000

The Great Dinosaur Hunt is happening throughout the Autumn halft-term at the Dinosaur Museum in Dorchester. The event involves the whole museum and lets children explore and search out the answers to the clues of the dinosaur mystery. The Dinosaur Museum is the perfect place for the dinosaur hunt with its exciting blend of actual fossils, skeletons, and life-size dinosaur reconstructions with hands on, and multimedia displays.

The Great Dinosaur Hunt is fun for children and all those children who correctly crack the code and solve the dinosaur mystery win a special certificate.

The Dinosaur Museum is situated in the centre of Dorchester the historic county town of Dorset. Over the year’s it has won much acclaim, most recently being cited as one of Britain’s top ten family museums. It is open daily from 10am to 4pm. The Great Dinosaur Hunt starts on Saturday 22 October and ends on Sunday 30 October.

Museums at Night in Dorchester

admin — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:41:43 +0000

Saturday 14th May is Museums Night, and to celebrate this national event all of Dorchester’s six museums plus the Roman Town House will be open to the public in the evening. There is one ticket covering entrance to all seven venues at only £6.00, and that’s £6.00 for an adult, a couple or a family of up to 2 adults and 4 children! Its a great chance to explore one, several or all of Dorchester museological sites. Museums Night starts at 5pm and finishes at 9pm.

There’s something for everyone from Romans to Ancient Egyptians, Dinosaurs to Teddy Bears, Tutankhamun to Thomas Hardy, the Dorset Regiment to the Terracotta Warriors. So check out any or all of these museums: Dinosaur Museum, Dorset County Museum, Tutankhamun Exhibition, Keep Military Museum, Roman Town House, Teddy Bear Museum, and Terracotta Warriors Museum.

It promises to be a fun evening. Look out for various eateries offering special deals on the night. Tickets can be purchased in advance from any of the museums or the Dorchester Tourist Information Centre. Tickets for up to a Family are £6 in advance, or £10 if purchased on the Night.

Great Dinosaur Egg Hunt

admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:51:47 +0000

The Easter Egg Hunt with a difference is being held at the Dinosaur Museum in Dorchester over the Easter weekend. The all new Great Dinosaur Easter Egg Hunt involves children in actually hunting throughout the museum to spot the dinosaur eggs on display. As well as this, children have to discover the answers to various clues in the Dinosaur Mystery and whilst seeking out the museum’s dinosaur eggs.

Dinosaurs reproduced by laying eggs in nests on the ground. The first fossilized dinosaur eggs were found in France in 1869. Since then dinosaur eggs have been found all over the world. Whole nest sites have been discovered leading to the naming of one area as Egg Mountain in the USA. Unfortunately discoveries of dinosaur eggs in England are much more rare. However, the Dinosaur Museum, in Dorchester, has several superb dinosaur eggs on display from other parts of the world.

The Great Dinosaur Egg Hunt is from Good Friday 22nd April to Easter Monday 25th April at the Dinosaur Museum, in Dorchester. Visitors can explore Britain’s original award-winning Dinosaur Museum with its exciting mix of actual fossils, skeletons, and life-size dinosaur reconstructions combined with hands on and multi-media displays. The Great Dinosaur Egg Hunt is taking place over the whole Easter weekend. All children who solve the Mystery correctly win a special dinosaur related prize!

North Sea Mammoth Tusks

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:53:38 +0000

Two superb examples of woolly mammoth tusks have gone on display at the Dinosaur Museum in Dorchester as the centrepiece of a display on Mammoths. The tusks originate from the North Sea. Between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago the North Sea did not exist and England was connected to the continent by low-lying pastures. Prehistoric mammals such as mammoths, woolly rhinos, horse and bison fed off the fertile lands. The tusks date to the end of this period and are unusually coloured owing to them having been in water, under the sea, for so long a time. The fully-grown tusks of Woolly Mammoths were extremely long, up to an amazing 5 metres, and very curved. They were possibly used to aid the search for food and to demonstrate sexual prowess. The sections of tusk on display are each about 1.5m long.

“The new display comes at a time when new research has revealed that humans were not responsible for the extinction of the mammoths. It had traditionally been thought that mammoths had been hunted to extinction,” said Tim Batty curator of the Dinosaur Museum. “However it now appears that it was climate change that caused their extinction. Mammoths were well adapted to the low temperatures of the Ice Age. The climatic conditions during the Ice Age did not favour the growth of trees and consequently there were extensive grasslands for the mammoths to graze on. However with the end of the Ice Age and the warming of temperatures tree growth accelerated causing a spread of forests and dramatically reducing the available food supply for mammoths.”

The tusks became buried in the thin layers of sand at the bottom of the shallow southern region of the North Sea. Here they remained for thousands of years as they became fossilised. Eventually tidal currents and dredging released these fossilised remains to be caught in fishing nets of a trawler.

Great Dinosaur Hunt

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:52:28 +0000

Explore the Dinosaur Museum, in Dorchester, with its unusual mix of actual fossils, skeletons, and life-size dinosaur reconstructions combined with hands on and multi-media displays to discover the answers to the clues in the Dinosaur Mystery. All children who solve the Mystery can enter a prize draw and one lucky child each day will win a special dinosaur! Every day of the August Bank Holiday weekend – from Saturday 28 August to Bank Holiday Monday 30 August.

Jurassic Coast Book Signing

admin — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:05:40 +0000

Two new books on the world famous Jurassic Coast will have everyone out and about exploring the beauty and wonders of the 95 miles of fabulous coastline. Robert Westwood is the author of both books that feature up to 20 walks and over 100 photographs and illustrations covering this stunning geologically unique area. On Thursday 3rd June between 11am and 1pm Robert Westwood will be signing copies of both books in the award winning Dinosaur Museum.

The books entitled “Walking the West Jurassic Coast” and “Walking the East Jurassic Coast” are published by Coastal Publishing who are well known for their authoritative but accessible range of Jurassic Coast publications. The route of each walk is overlaid onto aerial photographs and information about the area.

Dorchester comes alive on Museums at Night

admin — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:43:03 +0000

‘Museums at Night’ is coming to Dorchester in a big way on Saturday 15th May. The historic county town of Dorset boasts no fewer than six superb museums and this Museums Night will see all six museums open from 5pm to 9pm. Added to that there is a special ticket for that evening only of just £6 for admission to all six museums.

Dorchester has a cornucopia of museums to surprise and delight any visitor. They focus on a fantastic range of topics and themes from Romans to Tutankhamun, from teddy bears to Thomas Hardy, from Dorset’s military history to the terracotta army, and from dinosaurs to Dorchester’s history. Museums at Night promises to be a very special night offering families and individuals an unrivalled opportunity to explore and discover.

For those who want to relax with a drink and a bite to eat on the evening several cafes, restaurants and pubs in the centre of Dorchester are linking in with Museums at Night by having special offers for those on the museum trail.

Advance tickets are on sale from any of the museums involved or the Dorchester Tourist Information Centre.

National Book Launch – Scary Bones

admin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:44:52 +0000

National book launch at the Dinosaur Museum, Wednesday 14th April 11AM to 12.30PM

Come and meet Ron Dawson, author of “Scary Bones the Skeleton Meets the Dinosaur of the Jurassic Coast”. Ron will be pleased to sign copies of his new book for his fans.

/illustration by Sue Burleigh/

Christmas Opening

admin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:04:39 +0000

The Dinosaur Museum is open most days of the Christmas and New Year holidays. It is open daily up until, and including, Wednesday 23rd December. The Musem is then closed from 24th to 26th December inclusive. The Dinosaur Museum reopens on Sunday 27th December and is then open daily including Bank Holiday Monday and New Year’s Day for the rest of the festive break. Opening times are from 10am to 4.30pm. The Museum is in the centre of historic Dorchester a gateway town to the Jurassic Coast.

Why not make a day of it in Dorchester and visit some of its other attractions. The internationally renowned Tutankhamun Exhibition, the enchanting Teddy Bear Museum with its special Bears at Christmas display and the Terracotta Warriors Museum are all open on the same days. There’s lots to see and do in Dorchester this Christmas.

Prehistoric Competition

admin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:10:43 +0000

The award winning Dinosaur Museum has launched a new competition in conjunction with Dorling Kindersley the publisher of superb children’s books. During October visitors to the museum can enter the competition for the chance of winning a fantastic prize.

Five winners will receive a copy of the ground-breaking new book from DK called Prehistoric, which brings to life the evolution of life on Earth from the evolution of bacteria, the earliest-known form of life, 3.8 billion years ago, through the appearance and extinction of entire species, such as the dinosaurs, to the eventual rise to dominance of humans.

This is not the first time the Dinosaur Museum and DK have worked together on projects and competitions. Both share a similar ethos of making discovering fun and enjoyable. DK does this through published books, the Museum through its hands on and interpretative displays. As well as dinosaurs the Dinosaur Museum has exhibits on extinct prehistoric animals including the mammoth, sabre-toothed tiger, and the ground sloth.