The Keep Military Museum is a military museum located to the west of Dorchester town centre.

History

The Dorchester Depot Barracks were built between 1877 and 1881 and was initially occupied by the 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot and the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment of Foot. In 1881 following amalgamations under the Childers Reforms the barracks became the depot for the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Dorset Regiment. During the Second World War the barracks were occupied by 701st Ordnance Light Maintenance Company and the 1st Quartermaster Company of the United States Army. In 1958 the Dorset Regiment amalgamated with the Devonshire Regiment to form the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment and Regimental Headquarters were re-located to Exeter.

The site of the barracks was redeveloped in the 1960s and only the keep was retained. The keep is now a regimental museum for the Devonshire Regiment, the Dorset Regiment, the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, The Dorset Yeomanry, The Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry, The Dorset Militia, The Royal Devon Yeomanry and 94 Field Regiment RA. The collection includes Adolf Hitler's desk which was taken from the ruins of the Chancellory in Berlin in 1945.