Portsmouth Museum

Portsmouth Museum

The Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery explores the rich history of Portsmouth through the centuries, with fascinating exhibits on social history, leisure activities, sports, maritime history, and art. It also holds one of the world's largest displays covering the life and work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, best known for his Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

What to See

The museum holds a huge number of artefacts from Portsmouth's long history. Here are a few highlights:

No Place Like Pompey

This exhibit looks at what makes Portsmouth special, and how its history was formed by the geography of its location. This display explores how the city's island home shaped how it developed. Discover the story of Portsmouth's links to the Royal Navy and the growth of its famous dockyards. The exhibit also looks at the uncertain origins of the city's nickname, 'Pompey'.

A chair and violin from the Conan Doyle Collection

A Study in Sherlock

This delightful exhibit looks at the life and extraordinary writing career of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Explore the world of Sherlock Holmes and follow the remarkable story of how a simple doctor came to Portsmouth to set up his medical practice and ended up becoming one of the world's most popular authors. The collection looks at the actors who have portrayed Sherlock Holmes on stage, screen, and television.

Living in Portsmouth

See what life was like for Portsmouth residents over time, through a series of fascinating room recreations. The story begins with a 17th-century bedroom, with furnishings from the museum's own fine art collection. This room has authentic 1650 panelling salvaged from a demolished house.

Enjoy an 1871 dockyard worker's kitchen and a compare it to a more modern kitchen from the 1930s. Then there's the 1930s dining room with locally-made furniture and a 1950s loving room with furnishings gathered from local homes.

Saxon longboat from Longstone harbour

Portsmouth at Play

This exhibit looks at recreation and leisure time in Portsmouth over the centuries. See how Southsea became a popular resort, with two entertainment piers. Discover historic pubs, music halls, and theatres, and discover the story of Sir Alec Rose, who sailed around the world.

Football in the City

This popular exhibit covers the city's famous football club. Did you know that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle played in goal for Portsmouth AFC? See matchday programmes, tickets, and photos, and recreate famous goals from the club's past.

The keys to Portsmouth's city gates

History

The Portsmouth Museum is housed in a superb 18th-century military barracks, built in 1760 to a design by the Dutch military engineer Bernard de Gomme. The barrack building was known as Fourhouse Barracks, probably because there were four existing brewhouses on the same site. The Fourhouse Barracks were home to 1,000 men.

In 1827 the site was renamed the Clarence Barracks in honour of a visit by the Duke of Clarence, soon to become King William IV. The site was enlarged in 1893 with the addition of new officers' quarters, built by convict labour. Cambridge Barracks was built alongside Clarence Barracks, bringing the capacity to a total of 6,000 soldiers.

Merchant's Chamber, 1685

The King’s Own Scottish Borderers occupied the barracks until 1939, when they passed to the Royal Navy. Then in 1948 the site was renamed as the Duchess of Kent Barracks and turned over to the women's Royal Navy.

The barracks fell out of use in the 1960s and all of the buildings were pulled down except one; the officers' mess. It is this beautiful Georgian building that now serves as home to the Portsmouth Museum.

Visiting

The Portsmouth Museum is an exceptional local heritage museum based in a magnificent historical building. The museum has its own car park, directly beside the main building on Museum Road.