Dorman Museum

Museum In Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire

Edwardian Gothic-style museum, featuring local and natural history displays and a ceramics collection.

Along the Linthorpe Road in Middlesbrough there are a few notable buildings and the Dorman Museum is a winsome one worth exploring. Outside the warm red brickwork is eyecatching and could have been produced locally as there were many brickwork companies in the area. The copper dome is impressive and adds grandeur.

The porch has iconic pillars that frame an attractive frieze with the Middlesbrough coat of arms. This has three ships depicting the area's shipbuilding, including a rampant lion to represent the Brus family, who were Lords of the area.

The motto is 'Erimus', which translates from Latin to 'We shall be'. Above the door is embossed 'Dorman Memorial Museum.' The memorial museum was commissioned by Industrialist Sir Arthur Dorman (1848 to 1931), whose son, George Lockwood Dorman (1880-1901), died of enteric fever during the South African Wars of 1899-1902. J.Mitchell Bottomley, Son, and Welford were the architects and were local. It is an Edwardian Gothic style and opened in 1904.

Inside, you are greeted by some beasts, towering above you. This gives a taste of what there is in the Dorman Museum. Some of the collections stem to Victorian age, when it was accepted to collect birds eggs without getting egg on your face, it was for educational purposes after all.

There should be something to interest you. I found the remains of a bomb, and the details about it got my attention.

There's a mock-up street scene with some characters.

Upstairs, a Gorilla By Peter Mountain awaits you. It used to live on a plinth outside the railway station in Middlesbrough circa 1987. There is a legend that the ladies on a night out would give the gorilla a makeover.

If you are potty about pottery, you will find a range of ornamental ceramics by the Linthorpe Art Pottery.

The Linthorpe Art Pottery was a born of a collaboration between the leading Orientalist and designer Christopher Dresser and local businessman, John Harrison, who was the proprietor of the Sun Brick Works based in Linthorpe village. The men are said to have had a prior acquaintance and that Dresser suggested to him that he might profitably re-purpose his brickworks into the production of ceramics that had not previously been attempted in Europe. It is also claimed that they sought to alleviate some of the conditions of unemployment in Middlesbrough, which was a consequence of the Long Depression and its dependence on the iron and steel industries for employment. Christopher Dresser (4 July 1834 - 24 November 1904) was a British designer and design theorist, now widely known as one of the first and most important independent designers. He was a pivotal figure in the Aesthetic Movement and a major contributor to the allied Anglo-Japanese or Modern Style (British Art Nouveau style), both of which originated in England and had long-lasting international influence Between 1879 and 1882, as Art Superintendent at the Linthorpe Art Pottery in Linthorpe in Middlesbrough, he designed over 1,000 pots.

Wikipedia

Of course the crowd pleaser is a dinasour and what better than a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Look at that massive skull and powerful jaws. As a bipedal It has super sized back limbs for all that chasing of prey. It could knock you flat with a swoosh of its tail.

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How To Find Dorman Museum

Where Is Dorman Museum?

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Lat / Long

54.564535, -1.240955

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boxing.wide.hops

Where To Park For Dorman Museum?

Parking available outside.

Contributed by Rosalind Parker

Thank you for reading. I hope it sparks your interest. It’s always a pleasure to get out and explore, whatever the weather. I enjoy uncovering little snippets of information, especially when they’re obscure, amusing, or meaningful. All photos were taken on a mobile phone.

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