Best of South West England
The 20 best museums in South West England
Our curated top 20 museums in South West England, ranked by quality rating, image richness and content depth. For the complete list of 585 museums see the full museums index for South West England.
- 1
Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre
Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre — heritage centre in Dorset, England, UK.
- 2
Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis ( LYME REE-jiss) is a town in west Dorset, England, 25 miles (40 km) west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dor
- 3
Seaton, Devon
Devon
Seaton () is a seaside town, fishing harbour and civil parish in East Devon on the south coast of England, between Axmouth (to the east) and Beer (to the west). It faces onto Lyme Bay and is on the Ju
- 4
Sidmouth
Devon
Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, 14 miles (23 km) southeast of Exeter. With a population of 13,258 in 2021, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Juras
- 5
Glastonbury
Glastonbury ( GLAST-ən-bər-ee, UK also GLAHST-) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, 23 miles (37 km) south of Bristol. The town
- 6
Wellington, Somerset
Wellington is a market town in Somerset, England. It is situated 7 miles (11 km) south west of Taunton, near the border with Devon, which runs along the Blackdown Hills to the south of the town. As we
- 7
Museum of British Surfing
Devon
Museum of British Surfing — museum in Braunton, Devon, England, United Kingdom.
- 8
Glenside Hospital Museum
Glenside Hospital Museum — hospital museum in Stapleton, Bristol, United Kingdom.
- 9
- 10
Plymouth
Plymouth ( PLIM-əth) is a port city and unitary authority in Devon, England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers Plym and Tamar, about 36 miles (58 km) southwest of Exeter and 193
- 11
Museum of Witchcraft and Magic
Museum of Witchcraft and Magic — museum established in Windsor, Berkshire, in 1954 and relocated to Cornwall, England in 1960.
- 12
Watchet
Watchet is a harbour town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated 15 miles (24 km) west of Bridgwater, 15 miles (24 km) north-west of Taunton, and 9 miles (14 km) east of Minehead. The t
- 13
Chard, Somerset
Chard is a town and a civil parish in the English county of Somerset. It lies on the A30 road near the Devon and Dorset borders, 15 miles (24 km) south west of Yeovil. The parish has a population of a
- 14
Somerton, Somerset
Somerton ( SUM-ər-tən) is a town and civil parish in the English county of Somerset, situated on the River Cary, approximately 8.8 miles (14.2 km) north-west of Yeovil. The parish, which includes the
- 15
Allerford
Allerford is a village in the county of Somerset, England, located within Exmoor National Park, and is part of the parish of Selworthy. It appears in Domesday Book as "Alresford – forda Ralph de Limes
- 16
Finch Foundry
Devon
Finch Foundry is a 19th-century water-powered forge situated in Sticklepath, a small village at the foot of a steep hill on the road from Exeter to Okehampton, Devon, England. Its original name was Ma
- 17
County Ground, Taunton
The County Ground, known for sponsorship reasons as Cooper Associates County Ground, is a cricket ground in Taunton, Somerset. It is the home of Somerset County Cricket Club, who have played there sin
- 18
Bill Douglas Cinema Museum
Devon
The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum (formerly the Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture) is a public museum and an academic research facility on the Streatham Campus of the Univ
- 19
Brixham
Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish in the borough of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. As of the 2021 census, Brixham had a population of 16,825. It is one of the m
- 20
British Empire and Commonwealth Museum
British Empire and Commonwealth Museum — Grade I listed museum in Bristol, United Kingdom.
