Mill House Cider Museum

About the museum

The museum grew out of a family venture that began in the early 1980s, when three brothers bought an antique cider mill and press and started making small batches of cider to sell. After the business was registered with the customs authorities in the mid-1980s, the family wanted to qualify for roadside tourist signs, so they began collecting cider-making equipment that farms no longer needed from Somerset, Wiltshire, Devon and Dorset. That collection became the museum.

Today the museum shows more than forty cider mills and presses, together with displays on the stages of cider-making and the chemistry behind it. Smaller objects include drinking horns, costrels (small flasks that workers carried to the fields) and old measuring equipment, some of it lent by the customs authorities. A short video shows cider being made on equipment from the 18th and 19th centuries.

A larger shop and a separate gallery of clocks were added later on the same site. The family still runs the business, which combines the museum with a farm shop selling local ciders, mead, food and gifts.

Highlights

• More than forty cider mills and presses
• Ten-minute video of cider-making on 18th- and 19th-century equipment
• Displays on the stages and chemistry of cider-making
• Costrels, horn mugs and old measuring equipment
• Cider tasting in the shop
• Combined ticket with the neighbouring clock collection

Permanent exhibition

• Mill House Cider Museum – More than forty cider mills and presses, with displays on how cider is made and a short video of historic equipment in use.

Operated by

Mill House (family business)

Admission & discounts

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide

Children go free and can use an optional Cider Fun Sheet, which costs £1.

Getting there & parking

The museum is at Mill House, 33 Moreton Road, Owermoigne, near Dorchester.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

The gift shop sells local ciders (some for tasting), apple juice, mead, spirits, food and gifts.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit