Rotunda Museum
Yorkshire
Scarborough

For exceptional days out in Scarborough Enjoy unlimited entry to the Museum and Art Gallery throughout the year with a £3 annual season ticket

The Rotunda Museum is full of fascinating objects, from fossils found on East Yorkshire’s Dinosaur Coast to Gristhorpe Man, the skeleton and coffin of a Bronze Age man, which is the best example of a tree burial in Britain.

Meet the residents of Jurassic Scarborough and come face to face with the Speeton Plesiosaur – a marine reptile from the lower Cretaceous period, found near Filey

Don’t miss the mysterious bone, flint and antler objects from Star Carr, one of the most important Middle Stone Age sites of its kind in Great Britain. How might the head dress made from a red deer skull have been used?

The Rotunda is an exhibit in itself – this unique circular building, opened in 1829, is one of the world’s first purpose-built museums, built to a design suggested by William ‘Strata’ Smith, known as the father of English Geology.

The interior, with its stunning trompe l’oeil ceiling and fascinating Georgian gallery, features a frieze showing the geology of the local coastline designed by Smith’s nephew, John Phillips. The original cases tell the history of the museum and the explore the stories of the 19th century Scarborough Philosophical Society which brought the collections together.

Accessibility Information

The Rotunda Museum has a lift to all floors, is fully wheelchair accessible throughout and has an accessible WC.

Support dogs are welcome. Induction loops are also available.

The Rotunda is breast feeding friendly and our staff are trained to be Dementia Friends.