Much of the town's history is shown at the Bruton Museum in the Dovecote Building in the High Street, along with a tourist information office. Bruton Museum Society, formed in 1989, involves the community and local schools in developing the collection of local artefacts. It was initially housed beneath the Co-Op, then in a disused coach house owned by a bank. The museum moved in 1999 to its current location, which was jointly purchased by South Somerset District Council and Bruton Town Council. The time spent in the town by John Steinbeck is commemorated in the museum. It has also organised exhibitions at King's School, including one in 2008 of the work of Ernst Blensdorf. In 2010 an anonymous donor agreed to pay the rent on the building, removing earlier doubts about its future viability.