Our museum provides a window on local history for the Raglan Whaingaroa area and adjacent districts. The Raglan Museum reopened to the public on Saturday 12th November, when a community open day was held. It is now open every day at least from 10am to 3pm, but closed on Christmas Day. During the summer and on Fridays and Saturdays it is open longer hours. Entry is through the Raglan i-SITE at the right hand end of building. Last entry to the museum is 30 minutes before the closing time for the i-SITE on that day.

The first exhibition is an extensive display of historic photos from the museum's collection and other sources. Some exhibits are on display including Te Awa-i-taia's taiaha, the T B Hill apothecary collection, the first fire appliance and the manual telephone exchange. More displays are being set up progressively.

Front of Raglan Museum in Wainui Rd - November 2011

Construction of the building was completed in August 2011. For construction photos click here: http://tinyurl.com/rag4mus

Contact Information:

• Email Click Here
• Phone Museum Society President, Dr Patrick Day- Ph 07 825 8416
• Postal Address PO Box 41, Raglan 3265
  Waikato
• Raglan Museum & i-Site, Joyce Petchell Park, 15 Wainui Road, Raglan (opposite Stewart Street)
• Entry: Adults $2, Children $1, Pre-schoolers free

Our exhibits will be progressively established over the 2011-2012 period and will cover Maori, settler, farming, surf and extreme sports, art, natural science, photography and town life history. The museum is proud to hold the taiaha of Te Awa-i-taia, prominent Ngati Maahanga chief and Treaty of Waitangi signatory.

Much of the collection illustrates domestic, rural and town life in Raglan, mainly during the early twentieth century. Items of interest include the doors from the Raglan jail, the first telephone exchange switchboard, the first surf life saving reel and an extensive collection of pharmacy items used by T. B. Hill, the town’s first chemist. There is an extensive photographic collection and many early copies of the town’s newspaper, The Raglan County Chronicle.

The Raglan Museum Society was established in 1966. The first accession was in April 1967, a wooden kitchen clock (Waterbury) over 100-years-old, from Mrs C. Gibbison of Raglan. In 1970 the museum was set up in the small left hand front room in the Raglan Town Hall, and from there it moved to the old fire station building in Wainui Road towards the end of 1982. This building was demolished in the final quarter of 2010 to make way for the new museum building. Construction work on the new building began in late 2010 and was completed in August 2011. The museum reopened to the public on 12th November 2011.