Opening hours

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

Extraordinary closures

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

Mummy on the move!
The Egyptian gallery will be closed from the 28 April. The Mummy will reappear when the new Ancient Civilisations gallery opens on the 8 June

Thursday 24 May
The Philbrick Fine Art Gallery will be closed from 2pm for lecture preparations.

Thursday 27 September
The Philbrick Fine Art Gallery will be closed from 2pm for lecture preparations.

Saturday 24 November
The Museum and Library will be closed for the RIC Members Only day.

We apologize 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.

Tuesday 15 May - Friday 8 June

There is no lift access to the Courtney Library, Decorative Arts or Cornwall Schools Art Collection while work takes place on the new Ancient Worlds Gallery ahead of its opening on 8 June. Access is via the stairs only. These comprise 28 6 inch/15cm high steps. We apologise for this inconvenience. During this time the Truro School Art Collection and Patrick Woodroffe exhibition will only be accessible via the lift.