The Dorchester Gallery tells the story of Dorchester fromprehistoric times to the present day, beginning with Iron Age settlements, then moving on to the foundation of the Roman town of Dorchester or Durnovaria - a politically important event for Dorset - after the Roman invasion in AD 43. The Romans built bath houses, aqueducts and town houses, and brought a completely different way of life to Durnovaria. In the Dorchester Gallery you can see fragments of Roman frescoes, roof tiles and pottery.

Later came Anglo-Saxon settlement, the Norman Conquest and the medieval period - the Gallery has a rich display of medieval pottery. From there, we move into the 1600s and the period of Civil War in England - a bloody battle between King and Parliament that saw the execution of King Charles I in 1649. His son, King Charles II, was restored to the throne in 1660. Charles II reigned until his death in 1685, when his illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, landed at Lyme Regis and declared himself King in place of his Catholic uncle, King James II. Monmouth's rebellion was defeated and Monmouth's supporters were tried in Dorchester by the King's Chief Justice, Judge Jeffreys. Seventy-four were put to death in what has become known as the Bloody Assizes.

In the 1800s Dorchester became a lively market town, famous for its brewery. The Eldridge Pope Brewery became the largest employer in the town, and in the Dorchester Gallery you can find a miniature copper model of a brewery so accurate it could almost be used to brew a thimble full of beer!