Toshidama Gallery

You'll find this contemporary art space tucked away in Mells, a village that feels properly removed from the usual Somerset tourist circuit. Toshidama Gallery showcases Japanese prints and contemporary work - the sort of place you stumble into expecting five minutes and end up spending an hour. The collection spans traditional ukiyo-e alongside modern pieces, so there's genuine range rather than just one dusty historical angle.

It's a quiet sort of gallery, the kind where you actually read the labels and think about what you're looking at. Not enormous - you can work through the whole thing without your legs giving up - but the curation matters here. If you're into printmaking or Japanese art at all, it's absolutely worth the detour. Even if you're not, it's a decent cultural pit-stop between exploring Mells itself and the broader area.

For the practical side, you're looking at somewhere between 45 minutes to two hours depending on how closely you examine things. The village location means it pairs well with a walk around Mells village green and the Abbey ruins nearby. If you're camping at Sunnyhill Campsite or Hadspen Glamping - both within striking distance - this makes a solid rainy-day outing or a cultural counterweight to the usual park activities. Ring ahead or check their website for current opening hours and admission fees, as independent galleries can be temperamental about their schedules.