There are over 3,000 artefacts within the collection. Dr. Frank Elgee, the eminent archaeologist and curator of the Dorman Museum, carried out a number of important excavations in the 1920s and 1930s. His research into early settlements on the North York Moors was nationally respected. Many of his finds including those from a Bronze Age hill-fort at Eston Nab and a burial mound at Loose Howe are held by the museum.
Other notable collections include:
- Artefacts excavated from an Anglian cemetery at Hob Hill in Saltburn;
- Egyptian and Romano-Egyptian items purchased from the British School of Archaeology, from a selection made by Flinders Petrie;
- A small Gertrude Bell collection of medieval vases, ancient glass, Romano-Egyptian lamps, Arabian tiles and coins given by her niece, Lady Richmond;
- Medieval fragments from Kilton Castle and Kildale Manor.
- Material from local archaeological digs is still being added to the collections.
- Other material includes a library of archaeological journals and photographs taken by Frank Elgee during his excavations.