An oak time capsule: a 12th-century hall tells the story of Somerset

The Museum of Somerset, located in Taunton Castle's 12th-century great hall, offers a broader English narrative than its medium-age walls might suggest. Operated by the South West Heritage Trust since 2008, the museum benefited from a £6.5 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2008, which facilitated its transformation and reopening on 29 September 2011. Queen Elizabeth II even paid a visit in 1987. Among the museum's exhibits, the most famous is the Frome Hoard, a hoard of 52,503 Roman coins discovered in 2010.

Most of the coins are made from debased silver or bronze, and the Frome Hoard is particularly significant as it contains the largest group ever found of coins issued during the reign of Carausius, the first Roman emperor to strike coins in Britain. The Frome Hoard is one of the largest ever discovered in Britain, and was acquired by the Museum of Somerset in 2011 using a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. In addition to the Frome Hoard, the museum hosts a collection of toys and dolls, sculpture, natural history, fossils, fine silver, remains of pottery, and archaeological items, including the mosaic found at the Low Ham Roman Villa.

The Museum of Somerset also contains the Somerset Military Museum, where visitors can learn about the fortunes of the Somerset Light Infantry.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons