Home

Please help us to improve this site by taking part in our survey. Just click on the link below.

Survey

Prices

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.

Treasures from the Earth

The South West’s fascinating archaeology is coming to a museum near you

The touring exhibition, Treasures from the Earth, comes to Cornwall this March following successful tours of Devon and Somerset. Aiming to return artefacts for exhibition to the localities where they were found it hopes to inspire people to get involved in archaeology.

Treasures from the Earth highlights the work of local community archaeology groups and brings together the contribution of museums, the Portable Antiquities Scheme, Historic Environment Records, individuals and societies to showcase the archaeology of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

The exhibition’s Cornish hosts have scooped the loan of not one but two treasures from national museums. Penlee House Gallery is borrowing a fabulous Bronze Age gold lunula from the British Museum. The lunula arrived safely and is now installed. Lawrence House Museum; Launceston has negotiated the loan of a 13th century enamelled glass beaker from the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The lunula was found in Penwith in 1783 and through an obscure and circuitous route was donated to the BM in 1838. It was probably brought over from Ireland between 2300 and 2000 BC and is one of only five lunulae found in Cornwall.

The glass beaker was excavated from the garderobe of Launceston Castle. Made in the Middle East or Venice, it may have been acquired and brought back to England by Richard Earl of Cornwall when he was on the Crusade of 1228. Richard owned Launceston Castle and spent Christmas there in 1259.

Bude Museum too is busy planning for the arrival of the show. It has teamed up with Cornwall Archaeology Society and Cornwall Civil War Battlefield Project to involve local schools in recording sites associated with the Civil War Battle of Stratton. Pupils will develop archaeological skills and contribute to our knowledge of the battle.

Staff at the Royal Cornwall Museum are developing education activities based on the show and designed to be used beyond the life of the exhibition to continue to inspire a new generation of archaeologists to investigate their locality’s fascinating past.

The exhibition is a partnership between the Royal Cornwall Museum, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery and the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter. It has been funded through grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Renaissance in the Regions bringing the tour to over 12,000 people so far.