The museum operates a small shop, which sells the SVA's latest publications as well as Sidmouth-inspired souvenirs and trinkets.

Digitisation means that the museum can display much more in an electronic form than would be physically possible in a relatively small building.

[9] The reception room contains a large roof-high cabinet displaying assorted coronation memorabilia from Queen Victoria to Elizabeth II.

Graphic displays chart the history of Sidmouth's Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site,[10] through geological time.

Other items on show include a megalodon tooth, belemnite guards and a selection of woolly mammoth teeth, the largest of which weighs 5.5 kg (12 lb).

The items on display range from coins commemorating the Duke of Wellington's victories, to medals awarded by the United Nations in the post-Second World War period.

The medals of Lieutenant Edward Bailey, who was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry in the First World War, and Corporal R. F. Pearcey, who served as an Royal Air Force mechanic in North Africa and Italy during the Second World War, are present alongside their personal items.

Sidmouth Museum holds considerable quantities of lace in its collection, though only a small fraction of this can be displayed physically in the building itself.

The room also hosts the original Long Picture, a panorama of Sidmouth seafront painted by Hubert Cornish in 1814.The archaeology room contains ancient Roman pottery and animal bones, as well as Stone Age flint tools such as axe heads, scrapers and knives.