PORTLAND MUSEUM
The Portland Museum occupies two early 17th century cottages forming an "L" shape at at a road junction in the Wakeham area of Portland. It is of course built from Portland Stone quarried within a few 100-metres.
The cottage pictured below was used as the home of the character Avice the heroine of Thomas Hardy's 1897 novel "The Wellbeloved". The museum was founded in 1931 by the palaeobotanist and promoter of eugenics Dr Marie stopes, better known as the UK pioneer for women's rights and birth control. Her controversial but influential 1918 book "Married Love" introduced the subject of birth control to a wide audience. She was against abortion and argued that birth control was all the was required to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
Stopes' scientific work, notably on the classification of coal deposits and Continental drift is over shadowed by her contribution to women's health and birth control - the latter unfortunately linked with eugenics (see her UK Wikipedia entry).
The museum has some fascinating displays illustrating local history, archaeology and customs, the Portland stone industry and general geology.
The cottage pictured below was used as the home of the character Avice the heroine of Thomas Hardy's 1897 novel "The Wellbeloved". The museum was founded in 1931 by the palaeobotanist and promoter of eugenics Dr Marie stopes, better known as the UK pioneer for women's rights and birth control. Her controversial but influential 1918 book "Married Love" introduced the subject of birth control to a wide audience. She was against abortion and argued that birth control was all the was required to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
Stopes' scientific work, notably on the classification of coal deposits and Continental drift is over shadowed by her contribution to women's health and birth control - the latter unfortunately linked with eugenics (see her UK Wikipedia entry).
The museum has some fascinating displays illustrating local history, archaeology and customs, the Portland stone industry and general geology.