Museums and Heritage

If you love museums and heritage then Hampshire is the place for you. There’s lots of places to visit:

Aldershot Military Museum – Aldershot

The Museum tells the story of the British Army in Aldershot.
armyflying.com

The Allen Gallery houses one of the south’s most outstanding collections of ceramics.

Army Flying Museum

The Museum tells the story of the British Army in Aldershot.
armyflying.com

Andover Museum and Museum of the Iron Age – Andover

The Andover Museum focuses on the history of Andover and the Museum of the Iron Age tells the story of Danebury hill fort.

Basing House – Old Basing

Nationally important ruins and grounds of the largest private house in Tudor England.

Beaulieu National Motor Museum, Beaulieu

National Motor Museum in the village of Beaulieu.

Breamore House

Elizabethan Manor House noted for its fine collection of paintings and furniture.
breamorehouse.com

Bursledon Windwill – Bursledon

Hampshire’s only working windmill.

Butser Ancient Farm – Chalton

Buster Ancient Farm is an experimental archaeology and educational site.

Butser Ancient Farm

Chawton House – Chawton

Elizabethan Manor House that once belonged to Jane Austen’s brother, Edward.
chawtonhouse.org

Curtis Museum – Alton

Local history museum founded in 1865.

Cumberland House Natural History Museum – Portsmouth

Take a walk through the A-Z of Natural History, see a working beehive and visit the Butterfly House.
portsmouthnaturalhistory.co.uk

Eastleigh Museum – Eastleigh

Explore Eastleigh’s history and see what town life was like in the 1930s.

Eling Tide Mill Experience – Totton

One of only two remaining operating tide mills in England.

Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower – Gosport

Includes a wide variety of exhibits from the 18th century to present day.

Farnborough Air Sciences trust Museum – Farnborough

A collection of aircraft, satellites, simulators, wind tunnel and Royal Aircraft Establishment-related material.

Fort Nelson – Portchester

Home to the national collection of artillery.

Gilbert White & The Oates Collections (Selborne)

18th-century home of the author and naturalist Gilbert White.

HMS Alliance – Gosport

A Royal Navy A-class, Amphion-class or Acheron-class submarine, laid down towards the end of the Second World War and completed in 1947.

Horsepower, The Museum of the King’s Royal Hussars – Winchester

Dedicated to documenting the King’s Royal Hussars, a cavalry regiment of the British Army.

Hovercraft Museum – Lee-on-the-Solent

The worlds largest collection of hovercraft.

Hurst Castle – Milford on Sea

Built by Henry VIII in 1544 at the seaward end of a coastal spit.

Jane Austen’s House – Chawton

17th-century house in which novelist Jane Austen spent the last eight years of her life.

Mary Rose Museum – Portsmouth

Henry VIII’s warship, lost in 1545, recovered in 1982 and on display at the Historic Dockyards in Portsmouth.

Mary Rose Museum

Milestones Museum – Basingstoke

Museum of living history.

The Royal Navy Submarine Museum – Gosport

HMS Alliance forms the centrepiece of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum along with Holland I and X24, the museum also contains thousands of photographs, documents, ship plans and artefacts.

The Gurkha Museum – Winchester

The Gurkha Museum takes you on a journey through Gurkha history.

Palace House – Beaulieu

Palace House, Beaulieu is a 13th-century house and the family home of Lord Montagu.

Palace House

Rockbourne Roman Villa

A unique archaeological site and museum.

Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum – Winchester

The Museum for the County Regiment for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

SeaCity Museum – Southampton

Tells the story of the people of the city, their lives and historic connections with Titanic and the sea.

Solent Sky – Southampton

The history of aviation in Southampton, the solent and Hampshire.

Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum – New Milton

The museum houses one of the finest collections of fully restored motorcycles in the world, including factory racers and exotic prototypes.

The Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum – Winchester

Showcasing an outstanding collection of uniforms, weapons, medals and much more.

Tudor House & Garden – Southampton

Tudor house reveals over 800 years of history in one fascinating location at the heart of the Old Town.

The Brickworks Museum – Swanwick

The last remaining Victorian steam driven brickworks in the country.

The Diving Museum – Gosport

Established in 2011 and located in a Victorian military battery in Gosport. The only museum of its kind in the UK.

Little Woodham Living History Village – Gosport

Step into history in the 17th century village of Little Woodham.

National Trust Winchester City Mill – Winchester

One of the oldest working watermills in the country, with over a thousand years of milling history behind it.

Petersfield Museum – Petersfield

Collection of artefacts reflecting the history of the town and surrounding villages.

Portchester Castle – Portchester

Originally built in the late 3rd century, it’s the most impressive and best preserved of the ‘Saxon shore’ forts.

Take a walk through Portsmouth’s heritage.

Explore the history of Lymington and the New Forest Coast.

Southsea Castle – Portsmouth

One in a series of forts constructed for King Henry VIII.

Watercress Line

Heritage railway running 10 miles from Alresford to Alton. Watercress Line is another name used for the Mid-Hants Railway. The name comes from the watercress that was grown in Hampshire and taken to London by rail.

Watercress Line

Westbury Manor Museum – Fareham

A variety of exhibits on local history.

Westgate Museum – Winchester

The museum is housed inside a surviving fortified medieval city gateway.

Whitchurch Silk Mill – Whitchurch

The UK’s oldest working silk mill.

Winchester Cathedral – Winchester

At the heart of historic Winchester and with fifteen centuries of English history behind it.

Winchester City Museum – Winchester

Telling the story of England’s ancient capital.

Winchester Science Centre & Planetarium

Interactive science and technology centre with the largest standalone planetarium in the UK.

Discover Basingstoke’s history.

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