The Bournemouth Natural Science Society and Museum occupies a Victorian villa on Christchurch Road and is one of the town's less obvious cultural attractions: a collection run by volunteers that has been opening visitors' eyes to the natural world for more than a hundred years.
Background
It is owned by the Bournemouth Natural Science Society (BNSS), a charity founded in 1903 with the aim to "promote study, interest and enjoyment in all branches of the Natural Sciences and History." The society moved into the building in 1921, and in January 2016 the museum received full Arts Council England accreditation, an endorsement of both its collections and the standard of their care.
What's in the collections
The displays cover a lot of ground: birds, mammals, shells and marine life share the rooms with minerals, fossils and cases of insects, and there are separate sections given over to botany, geology and archaeology. The highlight is the Egyptology gallery, where a 2,500-year-old mummy rests in its sarcophagus. On some visits you can also handle live insects, spiders and snakes, which goes down well with children and with the museum's Young Explorers programme.
Planning a visit
Public opening is on most Tuesdays between 10am and 4pm (last admission 3.30pm), with additional dates in the school holidays. There is no charge to get in, although donations go towards keeping the building and collections in good order. Around 25 cars can park free on site, disabled bays among them, and Bournemouth's train and bus station is a short walk away. Being a Victorian house, the museum is most accessible on the ground floor, which is reached by chair-lift; the upper floors and basement mean stairs, so ring in advance if access is a concern.
It is one of a handful of museums worth tracking down away from the seafront; combine it with the nearby Russell-Cotes Museum, or look through more of our guide to things to do in Bournemouth.