Event Memory Café Every third Monday of the Month A relaxed reminiscence session to provide socialisation for those with memory difficulties and their carers and family. Find out more
Event 2025 Heritage Open Day- Free Guided Tours! Sunday 21st September 2025 This Heritage Open Day, we're offering free guided tours of Shire Hall Museum! Find out more
Exhibition Nature Enclosed: An Environmental Justice Art Trail From 22nd July to 6th September 2025 An art trail inviting you to explore powerful sculptures and art installations created in response to one of the most urgent issues of our time: climate justice Find out more
EventFamily event My Dorset: Young Photographer Competition From 25th July to August 22nd 2025 To accompany our exhibition Dorset People: From the Swanage Railway to the Tolpuddle Rally, we are pleased to present My Dorset: Young Photographer Competition. Find out more
Exhibition Dorset People: From the Swanage Railway to the Tolpuddle Rally From 8th August to 30th September only. A photographic celebration of the people who shape the heart and soul of this unique county. Curated by John Tilsley and members of Dorchester Camera Club Find out more
Event Music in the Hall Concert: An Evening with Ken Watkins Thursday 11th September 7.30pm (Doors/Bar 7.00pm) A relaxed and intimate performance of acoustic music from popular local musician, Ken Watkins, raising funds for the Shire Hall Museum. Find out more
Talk Drawing You, Heavy With Sleep: Celebrating Sylvia Townsend Warner Saturday, 27th September 2025 from 2pm Find out more about the life and work of the musicologist and LGBTQ + pioneer Sylvia Townsend Warner(1893-1978) through this exciting interactive talk. Find out more
Talk Villains, Victims and Tragedies Saturday, 18th October from 2pm A talk by the popular local author Brian Bates, exploring dramas, tragedies and even comedies that were played out at the Dorset Assizes. Find out more
Festive Event Shire Hall Christmas Market Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th November, 10am - 4pm Join us at Shire Hall for our Christmas Market! Find out more
Talk Law, Order and Subversion in Hardy Saturday 30th May 2026 - from 2pm Join Mark Damon Chutter, Chairman and Academic Director of the Thomas Hardy Society to find out more about Hardy's Justice of the Peace role. Find out more
