Cornwall Home Cornwall Activities Cornwall Arts & Crafts Cornwall Attractions
Cornwall Books & Maps Cornwall Castles Cornwall Cathedrals & Churches
Cornwall Historic Houses Cornwall Hotels Cornwall Parks & Gardens Cornwall Railways

Corwall Museums

Bude Stratton Museum

Canal related displays in the museum show the planning, building and working era of the Bude Canal, and include a working model of an incline plane. Photographs and text also show the decline of the canal and the present-day state of much of its course, the first two miles of which are in usable order.

Lower Wharf   Bude   EX23 8LG   Tel:  01288 353576  Email

Camborne School of Mines Geological Museum & Gallery

Displays of rocks and minerals from all over the world - colourful and interesting as well as educational. Added to this a backdrop of pictures (changed every month) by artists living or working in Cornwall.

University of Exeter  Cornwall Campus  Penryn  TR10 9EZ    Tel: 01326 371800  Email

Charlestown Shipwreck, Rescue & Heritage Centre

The Shipwreck and historical artefacts on display in the centre are the largest private collection of this type on public display in Europe. Brought together over the last 45 to 50 years, it forms the basis of one of the most unusual and interesting collections open to the public. The many and varied exhibitions reflect village life in Charlestown, it's history, shipwrecks and the once thriving China Clay industry. The exhibition shows a tremendous range of maritime history dating back to 1715 and one of the largest underwater diving equipment collections in the country, including various suits used for treasure seeking and naval purposes

Charlestown  St. Austell  PL25 3NJ     Tel:  01726 69897   Email

Geevor Tin Mine & Heritage Centre

An important part of Cornwall's rich industrial heritage. Regular tours by expert guides are given around the surface plant, including a short 'walk-in' underground experience. Excellent Craft and Book shop, 'Count House Cafe' and walks along the beautiful Coastal Footpath.

Pendeen   Penzance  TR19 7EW   Tel: 01736 788662   Email

National  Maritme Museum Cornwall

Displays cover Cornwall & the Sea. Falmouth Packet Service. Ship models, artefacts, paintings. Shipbuilding & navigation. Wrecks & lifesaving. ARC & DB of Cornish-built vessels 1786 - 1914 BA. NB marine paintings at the Art Gallery. Pendennis Castle is Tudor

Discovery Quay  Falmouth   TR11 3QY  Tel: 01326 313388   Email

Padstow Museum

General collection includes features on the local lifeboat, ship- building, shipwrecks & rescues. Collection of shipwright's tools.

The Men's Institute, Market Place, Padstow, PL28 8AL   Tel:  01841532752

Porthcurno Telegraph Museum

The most complete collection of working submarine telegraphy equipment in the World.  This fascinating collection is housed in underground tunnels created in the Second World War and demonstrated by volunteers.

Eastern House  Porthcurno  TR19 6JX   Tel:  01736 810966  Email

The Royal Cornwall Museum

The museum has permanent displays on the history of Cornwall from the Stone Age to the present day, as well as the natural history of Cornwall, a world famous collection of minerals, a pre-eminent collection of ceramics, and a changing display of fine and decorative art. The museum has a diverse range of temporary exhibitions, from photographs to textiles, Old Master drawings to natural history, many of which have free admission.

Also containing The Courtney Library, the oldest Cornish Historical Research Centre in Cornwall which currently holds approximately 30,000 printed volumes as well as manuscripts from the 12th century, including those by local antiquarians, Cornish books and periodicals, printed maps, engravings and pamphlets, 100 files of original local newspapers from 1798 onwards and approximately 2,000 books on fine art. A private library open to the public with advance notification.

River Street, Truro,  TR1 2SJ    Tel: 01872 272205  Email
 
Isles of Scilly Museum

The collections include agriculture, archaeology, archives, arms & armour, biology, costume and textiles, fine art, geology, maritime, medals, medicinal, music, numismatics, oral history, natural history, science, social history and transport. The most significant collections and artefacts are: in archaeology, the Knackyboy Collection (Bronze Age); in wrecks, The Association, Hollandia Collections and the Gig 'Klondyke'; in natural history, the shell collection and the Dorrien-Smith Bird Collection from Tresco.

Church Street, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly,  TR21 0JT    Tel: 01720 422337  Email

Trinity House National Lighthouse Centre

One of the few national museums outside London, the National Lighthouse Centre houses the finest collection of lighthouse equipment in the world. The exhibition, with audio-visual theatre, illustrates the history of lighthouses, shows how they were built and the conditions under which their keepers lived. The museum is run by Trinity House, and tells the story of 400 years of lighthouses round the coasts of Britain. An audio visual display, and staff on hand to answer every question you have ever wanted to know about lighthouses.

Wharf Road Penzance  TR18 4BA 01736 360077

Wheal Martyn China Clay Heritage Centre

The history of this important Cornish industry. Open air historic clay workings, indoor exhibitions, displays and audio-visual show. 1899 locomotive. Working waterwheels and 1916 Peerless lorry. Nature trail - a mile long walk through the beautiful wooded site and spectacular views of a modem day working clay pit. Children's Adventure Trail - picnic area. Mineral display, gift and pottery shop.

Wheal Martyn,  Carthew,  St Austell,    PL26 8XG   Tel: 01726 850362

Cotehele Quay Museum

The Shamrock: Tamar river sailing barge, built 1899, restored in 1970s. Ketch rig, 37 tonnes, 57 ft length. Small quayside museum tells story of Shamrock, & trade on West Country rivers & coast. (Branch of National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, & National Trust
 
Cotehele Quay, St Dominick, Saltash,  PL12 6TA Tel: 01579 350830

Mevagissey Museum

The collection, in a boat builder's workshop of 1745, is mainly of local domestic and agricultural items, but includes builders' half-models, an "Armada" chest & other artefacts from the local fishing and maritime community.

East Wharf, The Quay, Mevagissey,  PL26 6QQ  

The Wayside Folk Museum

 A unique private museum, founded in 1935, covering every aspect of life in Zennor and district from 3,000 BC to 1930s. Waterwheels, Millhose, Wheelwright's, Blacksmith's, a Miller's cottage with kitchen and parlour, plus exhibits on tin mining, fishing, domestic life and archaeology. Children's Museum Quiz Trail. Nearby is the famous Mermaid Chair in the village church.
 
Zennor St. Ives TR26 3DA