Museum of the Iron Age

The Museum of the Iron Age tells the story of Danebury Hill Fort which lies to the south west of Andover. The hill fort was excavated by Professor Barry Cunliffe between 1969 and 1988 and is one of the best studied sites of the British Iron Age.

The museum uses real objects from Danebury alongside life size models, reconstructions and dioramas to bring the Iron Age to life. Stand alongside our fortified ramparts and imagine eating dinner around the cooking cauldron inside our roundhouse room.

Themes which are covered include; farming, religion, trade, crafts and warfare. As well as Danebury, there is also information and finds from other sites which help to tell the story of the Iron Age and Roman periods in north west Hampshire.

The Fullerton Mosaic

This beautiful mosaic floor decorated the main room of a Romano-British villa, or country farmhouse. The house lasted less than a generation before being abandoned, but some floors and foundations survived 1,500 years to be rediscovered in the late 19th century. The centrepiece to the mosaic is the god Mars, in his role as protector of agriculture.

When Britain was part of the Roman Empire, from the mid 1st century to the early years of the 5th, large farming estates or villas were created in a number of locations. This was particularly true of the area around the Roman crossroads at East Anton, on the northeastern side of Andover. Most of these farms were on chalk downland, perfect for growing cereals, but the villa at Fullerton was on the River Anton, well-placed to manage a water mill which processed these crops.

Resources Room

We have a selection of material to help with research on local archaeological and historic topics, including local history and archaeology books, excavation reports, periodicals, trade directories, photographs and cuttings. If you wish to use this resource we recommend you contact us to check the room’s availability. Please note we don’t lend items out.

There is a gift shop selling related books and gifts, and coffee shop selling tea/coffee and biscuits.

Group Visits

Whether you are an archaeological society or a University, we recommend a visit to the Museum combined with a trip to Danebury hill fort. We suggest you visit the museum first followed by Danebury.

We are currently developing an exciting new range of sessions for schools at the Museum of the Iron Age to support the changes to the National Curriculum.

All sessions last 2 hours, are facilitated by a specially trained member of our team and are for one class. 
Sessions cost: £52 (£26 per hour).

For more information on our new sessions, contact us at the Museum Tues- Fri on 01264 366283.

These sessions will be launching soon.

Join Our Tribe – Key Stage 2

Join Our Tribe gives children a great opportunity to focus on Iron Age life and culture at the museum which tells the story of nearby Danebury Hill Fort. Using the displays, plus replica artefacts and a life-size roundhouse, children prepare for an Iron Age festival! Schools can extend their visit to a whole day with a self-led or countryside ranger-led session at Danebury – details at http://www3.hants.gov.uk/countryside/danebury.htm

Dead Man’s Tales - The Mystery of The Danebury Body – Key Stage 2

The session looks at one particular human burial from the Iron Age. Who was this person? Why were they buried at a Hill Fort? What does the evidence tell us about life and death in the Iron Age?

The class work in groups to examine the evidence, using the museum displays and handling collections to provide a structured story about the last days of the Danebury body.

Caution: Archaeologists at Work – Key Stage 2

Caution: Archaeologists at Work links to the stunning Fullerton Mosaic and gets children working as archaeologists, examining real and replica Roman artefacts to build a hypothesis based on the evidence they examine.