Opened in 2012, The Novium Museum is Chichester District’s award-winning museum. Built over the remains of a Roman bathhouse and with three floors of fantastic exhibitions, The Novium Museum tells the fascinating story of Chichester District and its rich heritage. It looks after 500,000 artefacts, both on display and in its store.
The museum is free for people to visit and is located in Tower Street, close to the cathedral and just opposite Chichester Library.
The remains of the Roman baths fill much of the ground floor gallery, with an audiovisual film showing you how they were built and used in Roman times. The bathhouse would have been used as a meeting place, to engage in leisure activities and perhaps also to talk business. It would have been an active and noisy place, full of chatter and gossip, where games might be played, books read and beauty treatments enjoyed.
Throughout the year, residents and visitors can enjoy a wide variety of permanent, temporary and travelling exhibitions at the museum. The team also organises numerous activities including a mixture of bookable and drop-in events plus talks, the annual Chichester Roman Week during the May half term, finds identification sessions, Father Christmas and lots more.
As the custodians of the heritage of Chichester District, the Novium Museum cares for a unique collection of 500,000 objects which help to tell the fascinating story of the history of Chichester District.
