Opening hours

January - March 2011
Mon - Sat: 10am - 4:45pm
Closed: Sundays and Bank Holidays

April 2011 onwards
Tue - Sat: 10am - 4:45pm
Closed: Sundays, Mondays and Bank Holidays

Free Entry

There may be a charge for special exhibitions. Please call to confirm.

Extraordinary closures

Please note that the museum will be closed as detailed below:

Monday 7 March
Museum closed all day

We appologise for any inconvenience that this may cause.

The Royal Institution of Cornwall – the organisation that owns and manages the Royal Cornwall Museum and Courtney Library – was founded in 1818 for ‘the promotion of knowledge in natural history, ethnology and the fine and industrial arts, especially in relation to Cornwall’. This is still at the heart of everything we do, from collecting, display, exhibitions, education, publishing and our outreach programmes.

The Royal Cornwall Museum

Over the years generous benefactors have donated an amazing array of objects, broadening the collection so that it covers for example Egyptology (hence our famous unwrapped mummy), fine art and world cultures, as well as classical Greek and Roman objects. The Rashleigh Gallery contains a world-famous collection of minerals, the core of which was amassed by Philip Rashleigh of Menabilly at the end of the 18th century. It includes the largest specimen of liroconite ever found, and a large gold nugget found at Perranarworthal. The Museum’s decorative arts collection and old master drawings are also very strong, the latter chiefly due to Alfred de Pass, another generous benefactor.

Renaissance in the Regions

Thanks to funding via Renaissance in the Regions, the Museum delivers a range of exhibitions and activities for visitors to the museum and users around Cornwall, including award-winning schools workshops and family activities along with innovative programmes such as the memory box service which supports people with dementia.

To download a copy of our What's On leaflet click here

is an Exhibtion Partner of the Royal Cornwall Museum