Palaeontology and pints

 I never need an excuse to visit a pub, but if you do then the Square & Compass in Worth Matravers has its own museum.  And yes, it’s odd as you might expect from a museum attached to a pub.

 Go into the pub, head for the serving hatch (pausing to buy a pint of HBA, the excellent Hattie Brown’s Ale), then take a left and down the corridor to the museum:

 Note the payphone; mobiles have a habit of not working out here (although my old one would occasionally connect to France if I sat out the front).

 The museum was started by the landlord, Charlie Newman, in 1998, but includes the extensive fossil collection started by his father (and predecessor as publican) Raymond.

 The fossils are mostly local, from Purbeck (including from the Kimmeridge shales) but there are also archaeological finds, things washed ashore from shipwrecks and other items of historical interest.  The Newman family have run the Square & Compass for more than a century, and the museum is a fascinating collection of things that have interested generations of the family, particularly Charlie and his father.

There is now a table and bench in the museum, so you could sit here and drink your beer whilst drinking in the sight of the exhibits.  Although sadly I think this has come at the cost of a reduction in display space; I have a vague memory that there used to be a collection of Lego that had washed ashore from a passing container ship, which I could not find on my latest visit.


 Although most of the finds are local, I hope that this chap was not found in the wild in Worth Matravers, otherwise the evening walk back from the pub might be a little too interesting:


 … and I am not even going to speculate on what is going on here:


 At the opposite end of the pub, the ‘Big Room’ has an example of taxidermy that seems strangely appropriate for a pub; don’t give him a drink, he looks like he’s had far too much already:


 Anyway, I intend to write more on the pub in another post, but do visit the museum and enjoy a pint whilst you’re there.




Location: Worth Matravers, Swanage BH19 3LF, UK

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