The Arts - Museums

Opened in 1974, this privately-owned museum is set in a building that was originally used for making coaches and wagons. The museum covers many aspects of life in North Cornwall from 50 to 100 years ago. These include farming, the dairy, cider-making and wagons. A special feature is the reconstruction of a moorland cottage at the turn of the century.

There are sections on the tools of the carpenter, cooper, blacksmith, saddler, cobbler, tailor, printer, doctor, granite and slate quarryman. On the domestic side there is a wide range of exhibits from lace bonnets to early vacuum cleaners and a collection of Cornish and Devonshire pottery.

The gallery has changing exhibitions throughout the season of crafts and paintings.

Open
April-September
Mon-Sat 1000-1700

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This is part of the Trevarno Manor Gardens, near Helston, and is Britain's largest and most comprehensive collection of gardening antiques, memorabilia and ephemera, creatively displayed within a purpose-designed museum. The average visit to the gardens themselves takes around three hours and it is recommended that you leave at least half an hour to view the National Museum of Gardening.

It is open all year round from 10.30am to 5pm, except Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Trevarno is also the home of the Colin Gregory Vintage Toy Exhibition.

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This small but fascinating museum is situated just 50 metres from the harbourside in Padstow.

Set up in 1971 by an enthusiastic group of local residents, headed by retired boat builder Bill Lindsey, it holds an interesting collection of artefacts giving an insight into the history of the port over the past two centuries.

Padstow is an important fishing port and harbour of refuge on the North Coast of Cornwall, a haven for many visiting yachtsmen. It was from here that many Cornishmen and their families embarked for a new life in the North America after the collapse of the Cornish tin mining industry.

Padstow is probably best known for its celebration of the coming of summer with its Obby Oss festivities on May 1 each year, and this celebration is well documented by the museum.

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One of Cornwall’s most unusual attractions, the witchcraft museum was opened in Boscastle in 1961 by Cecil Williamson, of Paignton, Devon, who had originally established the Museum of Witchcraft in Castletown in the Isle of Man. He sold the museum in 1996 and died the same year, aged 90.

The museum, which attracts about 50,000 visitors a year, contains many of the Williamson's magical tools and equipment, along with his private collection of magical artefacts.

It was one of the many properties in Boscastle badly affected by devastating floods in 2004.

Admission is £1.50 for adults and 75 for elders and children.

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Opened in 1949, Helston Folk Museum was originally housed in buildings in the old butter market. It was extended into the adjoining meat market in 1983 and into the Drill Hall in 1997.

The collection relates mainly to crafts and industries that flourished in Helston and on the Lizard Peninsula in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and the displays range from a five-ton cider press dating from 1750 to musical instruments, domestic furniture and lace.

Transport and trades are featured, with exhibits that include a farm wagon, a penny-farthing bicycle, a butcher's cart and old fire appliances. All the tools of the blacksmith's trade are displayed in the smithy, and a Cornish range takes pride of place in the 19th century kitchen.

The Land and Sea section includes a portrait of local man Henry Trengrouse and some of his inventions. Also remembered is another of Helston's famous sons, champion boxer Bob Fitzsimmons.

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This is a free-entry site located near Helston which has something for all the family and has been described as the best underground experience in the South West.

It is the only complete underground tin mine in Cornwall open to the public and also has craft workshops, antiques, amusements, cafeteria, gold panning, pottery throwing, ceramic painting and candle-making.

Opening times vary - phone 01326 563 166 for details.

The carrying of children underground is not allowed and the admission of children under four is at the tour guide's discretion.

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Bodmin Town Museum is situated on Mount Folly, approximately 100 yards from the main car park. It tells the history of the town from its earliest times until the end of the Second World War.

Through objects, photographs, text panels and a room setting, the story unfolds. The visitor steps back in time when viewing the Cornish kitchen, with its scrubbed top pine table, cooking utensils and black leaded kitchen range.

The story of Bodmin during the Second World War is depicted through photographs, objects, text panels, uniforms and posters. Other interesting exhibits include the local stocks and an 18th century fire engine.

Opening hours, from Easter until the end of September are 10.30am to 4.30pm, Monday-Friday.

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Located in a china clay building on the edge of St Austell, the Charlestown Shipwreck and Heritage Centre offers an insight into the history of the port of Charlestown, heritage, rescue and shipwrecks.

Visitors can walk through underground tunnels where clay trucks were pushed out to the ships in the harbour. The centre has the largest exhibition on public display in the UK of artefacts recovered by divers, including items from the finest ocean liners.

The centre is open from the beginning of March to the end of October, from 10am to 5pm (6pm in high season).

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Fowey’s Town Museum has a sympathetic setting in the oldest part of this ancient port. It is in a room which served as a council chamber when Fowey was a borough in its own right. With the civic regalia on display is the mayoral chain made for the former Lord Mayor of London, Sir Charles Hanson, in his role as Lord High Sheriff of the City of London. It stands proudly among artefacts and memorabilia of the many who have enriched Fowey with art, craft or government, industrial skill or naval reputation.

Complementing them is the hardware of Fowey's seafaring celebrity: the timber, sails and cordage from ships that chased the Spanish, beat the French and carried Cornish tin and China Clay all over the world.

To get to the museum follow the A390 from St Austell towards Lostwithiel; at the first roundabout, take the Fowey exit, the A3082. The museum is in the town centre and is open from May to September, weekdays only, 10am to 5pm.

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The British Cycling Museum, based at The Old Station, Camelford, is run by John and Sue Middleton and has more than 400 examples of cycles, an old cycle repair workshop, more than 1,000 cycling medals, fobs and badges from 1881 and an extensive library of cycling-related books.

The museum also contains the first cycle oil lamp and has window displays of gas, candle, battery and oil lighting, as well as a gallery of framed cycling pictures.

The museum, situated one mile north of Camelford on the Boscastle road, is open all year, Sundays to Thursdays, from 10am to 5pm.

Admission: Adults £2.50, children £1.50 (private parties by appointment).

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This is Cornwall's secret wartime communications centre, under Porthcurno. Undersea cables fanned out from the beach to all parts of the Empire and beyond. The tunnels, built in World War II, house a unique museum of historical equipment, dating back to the 1870s.

Guides demonstrate equipment that is still in working order. See the blast-proof doors, the underground power station, early telegraph systems, vintage wireless and the 'regenerator' system that led to today's digital and computer technology. Visitors can learn how the cable company 'spied' on Marconi's early experiments.

Porthcurno Visitor Centre incorporates the Cable and Wireless international cable station. Hands-on displays and expert guides demonstrate how we talked to the world from Victorian times to present day.

For educational and group bookings phone/fax 01736 810 966.

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The Royal Cornwall Museum, the largest and most comprehensive in the county, has a permanent display 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, collections of ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities, a changing display of fine and decorative art.

The main collections are: minerals - an internationally important collection of more than 10,000 specimens of outstanding quality and rarity. The most important part of this collection was formed by Philip Rashleigh (1729-1811), of Menabilly, and is one of the few 18th century collections of minerals to remain largely intact. Old master drawings - an outstanding collection of drawings from the Italian, French, Netherlandish and English schools. British artists include Hogarth, Gainsborough, Constable, Romney, Turner, Blake, Rossetti, Burne-Jones and Augustus John; Newlyn School - a large collection of paintings and drawings by artists such as Stanhope Forbes, Lamorna Birch, Frank Bramley, Walter Langley and Harold Harvey. Archaeology and local history - the archaeology collection ranges from the Palaeolithic to post-Medieval period, with an important Bronze Age collection of metalwork, pottery, stone and flint tools. The history of Cornwall from Medieval times to the present day is told through a selection of paintings, scientific instruments, leather, pottery, pewter, glass and silver linked to important people or events. There are also foreign collections of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Chinese and Japanese material.

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.

Open Monday to Saturday (last admission 4.30pm).

Free

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The museum has an extensive collection of photographs and slides, mainly connected with Bude’s maritime history, but also covering the town’s history, railway and canal. The majority of the museum’s photograph and slide collection is housed in our archive and is viewable by prior appointment.

Located at The Wharf, the museum is open from Easter to the end of October, daily from noon to 5pm.

Adults 50p, Concessions 25p, Children free if accompanied by an Adult

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Located in The Warren, overlooking the harbour, the Polperro Heritage Museum of Smuggling and Fishing houses a remarkable collection of exhibits and 19th century photographs as well as many items of memorabilia dating from the 18th century, when both smuggling and fishing thrived in Polperro.

It vividly brings to life the story of this Cornish fishing village's extraordinary history and many of the people who featured in it. When smuggling died out in the 19th century, Polperro attracted many distinguished artists and photographers, some of whose work is exhibited at the museum.

The Polperro Heritage Museum is open daily between 10am and 6pm from March until October.

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Set within the 26-acre site of two former 19th century china clay works, Wheal Martyn takes you through the story of china clay production from 1800 to the present day. There's plenty of variety for all the family in the form of three trails, plus the spectacular Pit View where you can watch the workings of a modern working clay pit.

Wheal Martyn is situated at Carthew, two miles north of St Austell on the the B3274; look for the brown signs at the Stenalees roundabout.

It is open seven days a week, all year, from 10am to 5pm.

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This military museum was started in the Depot in 1925. Since then it has expanded considerably and now occupies the old Quartermaster's Stores on the first floor of the Keep. It is divided into two parts, the Main Historical Gallery and the Armoury.

The Main Historical Gallery traces the history of the DCLI regiment from its formation in 1702 to its amalgamation with the Somerset Light Infantry in 1950. The many wars and campaigns are put into the perspective of the history of the United Kingdom by means of explanations, maps, pictures and artefacts.

The Armoury contains one of the finest private collections of small arms and machine guns. Also shown are many of the colourful uniforms worn by the regiment before 1914, together with a remarkable display of decorations and medals.

The colours of the regiment from 1816 hang in St Petroc's, Bodmin’s parish church. These include those of the 46th Foot carried in action in the Crimea and those of the 32nd Foot carried in action at the Siege of Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny.

The museum is open Monday to Friday.

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With St Ives and Newlyn close by, it's no surprise that Penlee House pays special attention to the works of the artists that famously came from these 'schools'. However, there is much more to this museum and gallery, including fascinating pieces from Penzance's past.

Exhibitions changes regularly - there's always something new to see. And afterwards, one can enjoy a coffee or lunch in the Orangery restaurant.

Adults £3, concession £2, children free (all get free entry on Saturdays)

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The inspiration for Daphne du Maurier's novel, Jamaica Inn stands high upon Bodmin Moor, with beamed ceilings, roaring log fires and real ale.

The inn houses Mr Potter's Museum of Curiosity, a Victorian exhibit, featuring taxidermist Walter Potter, and Daphne du Maurier's Smugglers at Jamaica Inn, a presentation of the novel in tableaux and a captivating collection of smuggling artefacts.

The inn itself is open all year and the museums from mid-February until December.

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This is a unique private museum, founded in 1935, covering every aspect of life in Zennor and district from 3,000 BC to 1930s.

It contains waterwheels, a millhouse, wheelwright's, blacksmith's, a miller's cottage with kitchen and parlour, plus exhibits on tin mining, fishing, domestic life and archaeology. There is also a children's museum quiz trail. Nearby is the famous Mermaid chair in the village church.

It is located on the B3306 St Ives to St Just coast road. Open April-September daily. 10am-6pm, plus evenings in high season. October, Sunday-Friday, 11am-5pm.

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Launceston, once the ancient capital of Cornwall, has a street of very fine Georgian houses, and one of these, known as Lawrence House, is now the town museum.

The visitor can enjoy not only many rooms of interesting displays but also the lovely interior of the building. In the hallway of the house stands a Polyphon (the Victorian jukebox). There is an exhibition of the history of the town from Bronze Age times. There are displays of Feudal dues; costumes, domestic and agricultural artefacts; the Tasmania Connection and a good display of Victoriana.

Opening hours are 10.30am to 4.30pm weekdays only, from April to September, 10.30am to 1.30pm from 1st to mid October. Other times and dates by arrangement with the curator.

Free

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Voted Cornwall Family Attraction of the Year 2003 by the Good Britain Guide, this exciting, award-winning museum has achieved wide acclaim for its architecture, hands-on displays, world-renowned boats and associated video footage, maritime heritage and interactive entertainment.

The Tidal Zone, the only one in Europe and one of only three in world, offers a unique ‘fish-eye’ view of life under the water and enables you to see some of our aquatic visitors! The view from the 29-metre tower is breathtaking.

Travel through galleries which explain meteorology, navigation, history, tides and more. Enjoy a break in the Waterside cafe, with wonderful views of the one of the world's largest and deepest natural harbours, before tackling the model boats on the 12-metre pool, complete with wind tunnel.

Visitors can also use the park and ride/float facility located on the outskirts of Falmouth, or park in the 450-space car park and get the free bus into Falmouth town, or take the Falmouth Flyer and get fast-track entry by 'sailing' down to the museum.

The National Maritime Museum Cornwall is open daily from 10am to 5pm (closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day).

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