On initial entrance to the museum, the ground floors galleries are about the town's history, its rapid mushrooming, as well as how it was affected by
World War II. The largest part of the museum is housed in a former
dry dock, where three floors containing models of
ships and submarines built in Barrow, along with other exhibits can be found. The Vickers Photographic Archive, an archive of 10,000 glass plate negatives donated by the shipyard, was once available online. There are changing temporary exhibitions, two historic, locally-built vessels as well as a filmshow illustrating the town's past and present on the very bottom floor. The museum takes its name from the dock in which it is built. This is the oldest part of the museum, opened in 1872, and is one of its main attractions. The Dock Museum focuses largely on Barrow-in-Furness and its immediate surroundings. It is a common misconception that it is solely a
maritime museum. The museum has a strong prehistory collection,
natural history artefacts, domestic furnishings, toys and maritime objects. The
Furness Hoard of Viking artefacts discovered in 2011 is currently being held at the museum with hopes it can be acquired after being valuated.
Museum boats There are currently four small boats preserved at the Dock Museum, including a yacht called
White Rose, which was built in the late 19th century; Banshee, a
Whammel fishing boat; and the 1914 traditional Morecambe Bay prawner,
Nance. The museum's largest vessel—the RNLB
Herbert Leigh (ON 900)—is sited adjacent to North Road. == Location and facilities ==