Dorking Museum
and Heritage Centre
Free audio guide
Explore the Dorking Museum collection on our audio guide from Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app, to discover more stories about the objects we hold.
Dorking Museum
Dorking Museum is a small local history Museum which tells the story of Dorking and the surrounding area from Cretaceous times to the present day. Displays and interactive elements enable the visitor to explore the development of the town and villages and the people who have lived and worked here.
Highlights include a fine collection of local chalk fossils, including a 2 and a half metre Mantillisaurus tail, the mineral collection of Lord Ashcombe of Denbies, and a Wedgwood pottery collection from Leith Hill Place. Displays feature the 6 Dorking residents who travelled on the Mayflower in 1620, local composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, and the Rob Walker motor racing team.
The Archives
Dorking is an old town with a great amount of history. The Museum holds an extensive and wide ranging archive of documents and photographs dating mainly from the 19th century onwards.
Schools and Learning
Our schools’ education programme works to bring the museum’s history collections alive so that school children throughout the South East region can be inspired to learn about and engage with Dorking’s fascinating story.
Making the museum more accessible to all is important to us, so that everyone has equal opportunity to learn, enjoy and be inspired.
Exhibitions
and Collections
The Permanent Exhibition Space
This area tells the story of Dorking and the surrounding areas. We start off in prehistoric times and travel right through the ages taking in the story of the Pilgrim Father WIlliam Mullins, the beautiful lost estates of the Deepdene and other great houses, the first and second world war, the contribution the Wedgwood family made to Dorking – right up to the present day with our amazing Mosaic made by local school children.
Painting Collection
Dorking Museum’s collection of paintings reflects the beautiful countryside which attracted artists to the area, and comprises the work of professional and amateur artists who have lived and worked in the area.
Temporary Exhibition Space
We are lucky enough to have a large blank space where we are able to present our temporary exhibitions. Every couple months we change this space into another display relevant to Dorking
WW1 Centenary
At the end of 2012 Dorking Museum launched its plans to remember the impact of the First World War on the town of Dorking and its people, and on the surrounding countryside and villages.
Support Dorking Museum
Member benefits include:
Unlimited free entry: Come and go as many times as you like.
Member Events: Enjoy special preview evenings, talks and social evenings.
Discounts: 10% off at the museum shop
Members magazine: Keep up to date with all the news from the museum and other local heritage organisations with our regular magazine – Dorking Heritage
Dorking Museum & Heritage Centre is an independent museum funded entirely by public donation and staffed by volunteers
