Scaplen’s Court Museum

Scaplen’s Court is Poole’s oldest building, a Grade I listed medieval merchant’s house dating from around 1500. This remarkably preserved timber-framed house with Purbeck stone ground floor demonstrates late-medieval domestic architecture. The building served as home to wealthy merchant families involved in Poole’s wool and fishing trades. Period room settings recreate domestic life across centuries, showing how the house evolved. Displays cover Poole’s maritime trade, shipbuilding, fishing industry, and social history. The house’s intimate scale and authentic features transport visitors to Tudor and Stuart Poole. Archaeological finds, historic artifacts, and interpretive displays explain the building’s significance and the lives of its occupants. Managed by Poole Museums, Scaplen’s Court forms part of Poole’s historic quarter near the Waterfront Museum. The building exemplifies how well-preserved medieval architecture provides tangible connections to the past.