Costs & revenueShire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum
The Charity Commission’s record for Shire Hall (Dorchester) Trust, which runs the Historic Courthouse Museum, shows income of £363,552 and spending of £411,414 for the year to 31 March 2023, a deficit of £47,862 by our arithmetic. The record gives no employee numbers, and later years were not available to us, so this is a dated snapshot rather than current accounts.
Why might a museum in a historic building struggle to cover its running costs, and where else could income come from? Practise this in AO2 Application.
Interpreting accountsDorchester Town Council
The Policy Committee minutes of 19 January 2026 recommend a 2026/27 precept of £1,913,842 against £1,822,939 for 2025/26, which is 5.0% higher by our arithmetic, and a Band D charge of £218.83, up £4.29 or 2%. The tax base is 8,745.90. Management Committee minutes of 12 January 2026 give parts of the precept by service, including parks and open spaces £841,050, municipal buildings £277,744 and cemeteries £163,627. This is a recommendation, not the final decision, and the minutes’ own appendices differ slightly.
The precept rose about 5% while the Band D charge rose 2%. What does that tell you about the number of properties paying? Step by step in AO3 Analysis.
Strategy & stakeholdersDorset Museum and Art Gallery
In a press statement on 25 July 2025 the museum said it would stop supporting evening events run by its café operator, Taste, at the trial fee of £120 an event, because that did not cover staffing, gallery access or tours, and insurance requires museum staff on site out of hours. It said it could not subsidise commercial activity at the expense of its charitable work. Under the arrangement since the museum reopened in May 2021, the operator keeps the café’s revenue and the museum receives rent and pays the building’s running costs. This is one party’s account of a disagreement.
Should a museum charge a café operator more for evening events if it risks losing them, and who gains or loses? A real judgement for AO4 Evaluation.
Dorchester’s economy in the classroom
Wikipedia, citing the 2021 census, gives Dorchester’s civil parish, which includes Poundbury and Fordington, 21,358 residents. A courthouse museum, a town council and a county museum give students real contexts for costs, accounts and strategy. We tie these themes to topics on the specification.
Sources: Wikipedia, Dorchester, Dorset; Charity Commission, Shire Hall (Dorchester) Trust; Dorchester Town Council, Policy Committee minutes 19 January 2026 and Management Committee minutes 12 January 2026; Dorset Museum and Art Gallery press statement, 25 July 2025; provider pages. The 5.0% and £47,862 figures are our arithmetic, the museum accounts are for 2023, and the council papers are minutes of recommendations.
