BRITISH archaeologist and television presenter Julian Richards is to present a virtual gallery tour of the new pottery exhibition at Wimborne’s Museum of East Dorset.

The Meet the Ancestors presenter will be hosting a virtual gallery tour and offering his insights around the origin and meanings of the exhibits, which chart 6000 years of ceramics, exploring pottery’s role in everyday life from prehistoric times to today.

The self-confessed ‘pot-aholic’, who curated the ‘Potted History of Britain’ exhibition at the newly-renovated museum ahead of its relaunch at the end of October, will be sharing the displays with the public via a video which will be streamed on YouTube at 6.30pm on Thursday November 26.

Julian Richards said: “Pottery has always been a passion of mine, whether it’s muddy broken fragments on an archaeological dig or showing primary school pupils how to make and fire their own pots.

“Pots are part of our everyday life. We eat off them, drink out of them and even sit on something that’s made of pottery in our visits to the bathroom!

“We can learn so much about people’s day to day lives through their pottery so I would urge people to get online and join me for a Potted History of Britain.”

The pots on display include some from the museum’s own stores, highlighting their unique collection of East Dorset ‘Verwood’ pottery while others have been generously loaned by Salisbury Museum.

In all, over 80 pots, ranging from 6000-year-old fragments excavated near Stonehenge to a pot made during the Spring lockdown, will be used to tell this fascinating story.

Following the tour, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Julian will be answering questions via a live Zoom call. A select number of spaces are available for the Q&A in which Julian will be answering a selection of pottery-related questions.

People can sign up now to join the virtual exhibition and will receive a link to the event on Thursday November 26.

Tickets cost £5 and are available from the Museum of East Dorset website.

For more information and to book tickets, visit: https://museumofeastdorset.co.uk/project/the-potted-history-of-britain/.