market house museum

This is a great little museum giving a fascinating insight into what was once a very busy sea port and associated industries, including mining. The staff are very friendly and amazingly admission was free of charge.Well worth a visit if you are ever in the area.

Mainly focussed on the maritime history but also displays of fossils and the local mining industry. Friendly, helpful staff. Well worth a visit

Great little museum well worth a visit lots of photos to look at to get to know a little of the local history

What a fabulous small museum,lots of displays about the local area.fascinating for adults and children alike.we have been visiting the area for many years and still learnt lots from this museum.free of charge and friendly locals staffing.well worth a visit

We almost didn't go into the museum on our afternoon in Watchet but it was a pleasant surprise!This is a single room museum with nice displays spread around the room that takes you on a historical journey of Watchet starting with fossils found locally. It will only take you around half an hour if you read each display with interest and as little as five minutes if you quickly go round!As a free museum it would be silly to miss out completely if you visit Watchet.

A free local museum with a lot of interesting information on geology,social & industrial history of Watchet compacted into a small space.

Very small museum but every display was interesting and informative. Its free and we came away after just 30 mins with a good feel for the town and its history including its geology with good fossil examples, clear explanations of early stone age settlements, The Romans, Mining, Railways, the various stages of building the harbour walls and how the town grew from just a couple of buildings around the mouth of the river and much more. A must for any visitor to the area.

On this, our fifth, visit to the U.K. we spent a great deal more time exploring the many lesser lights suggested by Ben’s lifelong (73 years and counting) friend and his lovely wife. Mrs Too and I have both been amazed at the three local museums we visited, by their interesting displays, antiquity, and the good people who show us around. The Market Place Museum in Watchet was no exception.What to an American would be antiquity, to an Englishman would be current events. Prior to the arrival of the early explorers, the native population was, for all practical purposes, prehistoric. Even the most acclaimed archeological digs produce little more than flint instruments, pottery shards, sometimes even, very old remains of cooking fires, or, rarely, of the inhabitants themselves. Therefore it is absolutely breathtaking to look at some old coins and reflect that when William the Conqueror landed from across the Channel, the coin of Ethelbert II’s realm was being minted right here in this busy little port village. The museum houses so many illustrations of life here in Watchet! Even though the museum is actually quite small, the knowledge, hospitality, and expertise of the volunteer docents turns a tour into a two hour stay. We came here primarily to see the statue of the Ancient Mariner, Ben’s friend himself being a Coleridge, but walked the seawall along Bridgewater Bay, strolled the tiny little streets, lunched most enjoyably, even stopped to learn about John Short, more well known as Yankee Jack.We presently plan to return to England next summer, and are so very glad that the Watchet Boat Museum and the steam rail journey await. There is no better end to a holiday trip than leaving with a head full of reasons to return. Even the many English tourists we encountered were having a grand time. Try it!

A small but varied collection from fossils to ship building tools. The building and its central position make it worth a visit. Peek through the keep window at the back of the building for a glimpse of the past.

No visit to Watchet is complete without a visit to this amazing little museum full of gems about Watchet's maritime history. Packed with exhibits, fossils, paintings, books there is something for all ages and each visit will provide more pleasure and more finds. It's wondrous and attracts visitors from all over the world.

the muesum was amazing,the old photos are just fantastic,the country side is amazing and so very clean the people are so nice lots of fun,take a walk along the very old harbour chat a while with Jack

found out more how Doniford was army base in war,, also about the ancient mariner.. there's a statue of him on the harbour.

Run by knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers, this small museum gives a true flavour of Watchet from ancient times and gives an insight into what makes Watchet the wonderful place it is today.

So much crammed into this historical building. A must to get an overview to this lovely ancient sea port with poetic connections!!

my partner and i all ways visit the museum when we go to watchet as we find it verry interesting and a nice place to bring children as we took our grandchildren to see it and thy said it was verry good we all so took our friend and she said what a lovley interesting place and we were glad to give a donation ,we spend a lot of time at whatchet as we like to just sit and relaxe as it is nice and clean place