A highlight for visitors will be the rope and net gallery.  It has been designed to reflect how a historic factory interior would have looked. The collection reflects the national importance of the rope and net manufacturing industries to Bridport.  The first official mention of the rope industry appears in a document dated 1211 when King John, fearing a French invasion, commanded that “you cause to be made at Bridport, night and day, as many ropes for ships both large and small and as many cables as you can.”

800 years of history  

[quote=Emma Hicks, curator, Bridport Museum]“We hope everyone will be wowed by the complete transformation inside."[/quote]

For over 800 years Bridport has produced rope and net for a wide range of uses, including holding down thatch on cottage roofs, as fishing nets and as ropes for the ships of the Royal Navy. Whilst 19th-century industrialisation meant much of the work moved to steam-powered spinning mills, rope and net manufacture has continued in the town until the present day.

Emily Hicks, the museum’s curator, said: “We hope everyone will be wowed by the complete transformation inside - we think it is unlike any other museum you will have seen before.”

Adopt an object

Adopt an object, an innovative fundraising scheme, has been set up so people can help cover the cost of looking after one of the estimated 50,000 objects in the museum’s collection stores.  Those that do this will be acknowledged as a sponsor and have the opportunity to visit the stores and see their object.

Opening times

Entrance to Bridport Museum is free. Opening times: Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm, and Saturdays, 10am-4pm.