Museum of Somerset Reviews Summary

Exhibits and Layout

Pros:

• "Some real gems including an amazing mosaic and a number of hoards of coins."
• "Lots of information and some very interesting artefacts on display, well laid out and easy to see."
• "Really well set out, some decent exhibits (eg complete Roman mosaic, really good fossils) and they tell the story of Somerset well."
• "An incredible museum with amazing artefacts."
• "The museum was filled with great exhibits. The way it was set out was excellent taking you through the ages."
• "The exhibits are clear and well displayed, with interest for all ages."
• "Some nice and unique exhibitions from Roman hoards and other interesting things."

Cons:

• "Since the refurbishment it has been given a family-friendly makeover which has included a serious dumbing down of most of the exhibits in general."
• "Display descriptions being down near the floor make them unreadable."
• "Desperately disappointing. There was no coherence in the exhibits, no narrative and no context."
• "The cases are not well lit with the worst ones having banks of dead bulbs."
• "Although the new museum layout is bright and modern it's not so easy to navigate."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "The staff are polite helpful and have a wealth of knowledge."
• "Very friendly staff who clearly enjoy seeing visitors and the trail for children was a nice touch."
• "The place is immaculate and the staff were without exception really welcoming, helpful, informative and friendly."
• "The staff were incredibly welcoming and knowledgeable on a wide range of history."
• "Staff friendly and helpful."
• "Very friendly and knowledgeable staff."
• "The staff and volunteers are always willing to talk to you if you wish it but they do not force information upon you."

Cons:

• "To make matters worse, the staff at the museum did absolutely nothing to stop this appalling behaviour."
• "There was a failure of communication between the reception staff and the staff member inside causing us to wait for some time."
• "Do make sure that you have children though. We got told to have a mooch, and then found ourselves being somewhat escorted out of that area by a different volunteer."

Cafe and Amenities

Pros:

• "The café is very good as well."
• "The cafe did a good cup of tea, a fair range of cakes and food."
• "As well as the museum itself there's a cafe with seating inside and outside and easily accessible disabled toilet."
• "The cafe is also brilliant and serves lovely food and drinks with a whole range of choices."
• "The cafe was great and reasonably priced too!"
• "The museum café supplies excellent coffee and cakes as well as light lunches."
• "Cafe is well priced as well, serving a good bacon buttie."

Cons:

• "The cafe looked nice but the vegetarian selection was a bit boring so we opted to go elsewhere."
• "Cafe was expensive and when asked if we could have some more hot water she replied 'we don't do refills'."
• "Warning! In the school holidays, space is very limited both inside and outside the cafe area."
• "The restaurant is a bit pricey but if you wander out into town a minutes walk from the museum, then there's lots to choose from."

Accessibility and Facilities

Pros:

• "Toilets are good too - which is always a selling point for me."
• "Very clean toilet and baby friendly."
• "Disabled access is good and my grandparents found the going easy."
• "Wheelchair accessible and really good for learning disabilities and physical disabilities."
• "Good access for the disabled and ample car parking in Taunton town centre."
• "There are clean modern toilets."

Cons:

• "My only complaint is that the lifts are much too small for many wheelchairs."
• "Not at all dog friendly."