Opening hours

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:

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

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 has sold two paintings from the collection following consultation with members, visitors and museum professionals.

The paintings fetched a total of £2.1million and this will now be placed in the Hawkins Galsworthy Endowment. Interest accrued from the endowment will be spent annually on the care of the collections, in line with the Museums Association's Code of Ethics.

 

Bondage by Ernest Normand

Sea Maiden by Herbert Draper

Chairman, Sir Ferrers Vyvyan says “We are delighted with the outcome of these sales, particularly in today’s market. The reality is that we have had to take some extremely hard decisions and the money realised by the sale of these paintings is a real step forward in ensuring the long-term stability of the RIC and the Royal Cornwall Museum.”

The proceeds from the sale will now be invested as an endowment fund for the museum. The capital will not be spent. The annual income from the investment will be used to match funding from Cornwall Council and other income generating activities to support the collection and enable the RIC to continue running an independent museum service for, and on behalf, of the people of Cornwall. 

It costs over £1m per year to run the Royal Cornwall Museum. At present over 60% of this is provided from a single government source which is likely to be significantly reduced in March 2011. The RIC also receives a grant from Cornwall Council and raises money for the museum through events, membership, venue hire, shop sales, school workshops, lectures and leases on the cafe and restaurant. In order to fill the funding gap, the RIC is working hard to build an endowment that will provide it with an independent income. It hopes to grow the endowment to £10million by 2018 through donations and gits from Wills.

For details on how to make a donation please click here

To see the statement from the Museums Association please click here