Shire Hall Museum — Attraction in Dorchester

This is a must see when visiting Dorchester. A very interactive museum experience. With individual audio tours available you can experience the trials and tribulations of people's hardships/crimes right back to when he court house first opened its doors. The courthouse is most famous for the trial of the Tolpuddle Martyres who are seen as the early pioneers for the unionist movement - Very Important part of British societal history. The original cell which held the martyres is still there, you can walk around the cell whilst listening to accounts of their time awaiting trial. The original table and bench they would have sat at is still there! There's a photo of this below....

We visited here as part of museums after dark this year and it was great! The initial part was through the cells from different periods in the buildings history including the cell where the Tolpuddle Martyrs were kept. Then there was a court room with great dressing up things which fitted me as well as the children! It was very busy when we went and we did have to wait to start walking through as it operates a one way system but I would think you wouldn't normally have so many people visiting. We also went to the cafe and the food was amazing and reasonably priced - well worth a visit even if you don't want to go...

We went to visit the Agatha Christie exhibition which was very informative. We were told that a ticket enabled access for the year which is beneficial for those local to the museum. The history of the hall was very informative, make sure you enquire about the headset tales of those incarcerated, we weren't advised and feel this would have added to the experience. That said the information boards were packed with details and the shop had some excellent reference books (I bought 3) I would definitely recommend a visit and there are lifts for those who find...