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.

For recent news and press coverage please click here you will be redirected to a new site.

 

11 December 2011

MUSEUM WINS PRESTIGIOUS IMPACT AWARD

 

The Royal Cornwall Museum has won the University of Exeter’s Social and Cultural Impact award for its highly successful Revealing Collections exhibition and its well-received sex education resource Talking Sex which is currently trialling in 40 schools throughout Devon and Cornwall.

 Working in partnership with University of Exeter researchers Dr Kate Fisher and Dr Rebecca Langlands, Truro College, University College Falmouth and women’s organisation Platform 51, museum staff, led by Community Engagement Manager Louise McDermott, encouraged local young people to use the museum’s artefacts to inspire their own artistic creations on the subject of sex.

Their work in a variety of media including dance, crafts, video, design, photography and animations, was showcased in the Revealing Collections exhibition. 

“The idea was for the young people who took part to explore different approaches to human sexual experience, relationships, identity, etiquette and health and to debate issues that are all too often swept under the carpet in order to avoid embarrassment,” said Louise McDermott. “Sex may seem the most unlikely of subjects for a museum context but it is one that is especially pertinent today with the growth of sexually transmitted diseases and constant exposure to sex through the media and the internet.  The project offered a way to engage sensibly with the topic – with cultural and historical perspectives combating stereotypes and pressures.”

The Talking Sex pack was developed with the help of PHSE (Personal Social Health and Economic Education) teachers from secondary schools around the region. 

The inaugural Exeter Impact Awards were held to recognise success in knowledge exchange, collaborative working and partnership, leading to wider benefits for the wider society and economy.  A gala dinner was held to announce the category winners.

“Winning the Social and Cultural Impact award is a significant achievement and I congratulate everyone involved,” said Hilary Bracegirdle, Director of the Royal Cornwall Museum.  “Museums can play a key role in educational development and cultural debate and the Revealing Collections exhibition certainly allowed us to do that.”

Approximately 20,000 people visited the exhibition when it was staged  from 12 July to 16 September this year.

 

 

5 December 2011

EVERY PITCHER TELLS A STORY

Last two weeks of exhibition

Only 2 weeks left to see the exhibition that tells the story of a century of Cornish life through the range of items produced at Lake’s Pottery in Truro.

W H Lake and Son founded the pottery in Chapel Hill in 1872.  For more than a hundred years they supplied the Cornish community with domestic ware of every size and description until, after a devastating fire in 1975 and a general decline in sales, the company finally shut its doors for good in the mid 1980s.

Now, thanks to a very generous donation from local collector Robert Buscombe, the museum is staging ‘Every Pitcher Tells a Story’ – an exhibition that includes audio-visual interviews and archive material to recount the fascinating history of a once thriving Cornish industry.

“Robert gave us the collection last year and since then we’ve been busy cataloguing each item prior to putting as many as possible on show,” said Sarah Lloyd-Durrant, the museum’s curator of later human history.  “I didn’t know much about Lake’s before the donation but now I’ve come to realise that it represents an intriguing insight into a century of enormous cultural and social change in Cornwall. 

“When it started, the business was producing functional domestic earthenware implements like pitchers, cloam ovens and chicken feeders.  In the 1920s they made art deco pieces that people could decorate and in the 1950s the advent of pre-packaged food reduced the need for containers so they turned to the tourist market and made glazed products like flower-arranging vessels and pottery pasties.  Sadly it wasn’t enough to maintain profits and, after a succession of owners in its latter years, the pottery was ultimately closed down.”

Collector Robert Buscombe’s has been buying Lake’s pottery since 1997 when he was an art student in Falmouth. 

“I think the Lake’s story has been underplayed because not only is it of very significant importance in terms of Cornish culture, it’s also important nationally,” he said.  “Even Bernard Leach visited to find out how he could improve handles on his own works.”

‘Ever Pitcher Tells a Story’ runs until 24 December at the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro.  Entry is free. 

 

28 November 2011

Cornwall Council’s Schools Art Collection goes on show
at the Royal Cornwall Museum and the Leach Pottery

 

Cornwall Council Schools Art Collection which includes pieces by renowned artists such as Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Patrick Heron and Terry Frost, is set to be enjoyed by a wider audience as the Council enlists the help of the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro and the Leach Pottery in St Ives to put more of the collection on show.   The collection of around 116 works was started after the then County Council received an anonymous donation in May 1961 of £100 made up of twenty £5 notes with a simple note saying ‘To help Primary School funds’. After much thought it was agreed that the money should be used for something specific and art was finally agreed upon.  The Council wrote to John Piper, Peter Lanyon, Lady Epstein and Barbara Hepworth explaining what had happened and asking if they may be able to sell something at a reasonable price or had any other suggestions.  They all replied and the collection was born. The fine art collection has already been transferred to the Royal Cornwall Museum where 28 paintings are on display, and the ceramics collection will shortly be collected by the Leach Pottery. The works will be incorporated into each museum’s educational programme to increase access and use of the collection by Cornish schools, as well as enjoyment of the collection by the general public.   Cornwall Council Cabinet Support Member for Culture Joan Symons said: “At a time when some other council’s in the country are considering selling off works of art to plug funding gaps, Cornwall Council is making a very positive statement about the value that we place on our cultural heritage and improving opportunities for children and young people to gain inspiration from Cornwall’s international reputation.  This collection, formed with advice from Dame Barbara Hepworth, has for a number of years been kept in store with only a few works being loaned to schools and exhibitions each year.  With the desire to see the collection better used, the Council has negotiated for the Royal Cornwall Museum to manage the fine art collection and the Leach Pottery the ceramics collection, with the expectation that their education teams will ensure that more schools make use of the collection.” Hilary Bracegirdle from the Royal Cornwall Museum said: “We are delighted to be managing the Cornwall Schools Art Collection on behalf of Cornwall Council. With a generous grant from the Tanner Trust to match our own funds, we have been able to provide the new storage required for the collection. Some paintings will be put to immediate use in our START project, funded by the Princes Foundation for Children and the Arts and aimed at using art to improve the academic and personal skills of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Funds from Cornwall Council will enable us to start addressing the conservation work that is needed and over the next 5 years we hope to integrate works from the collection into our learning programme. In the meantime around 28 of the works are on display in our fine art gallery.” Julia Twomlow from the Leach Pottery said: “Cornwall Council and Penwith District Council before it, has done huge amounts over the past few years to protect and preserve the Leach Pottery for future generations.  We are delighted to be working with the Council again, bringing this important collection out of storage and back into the public eye.  It is a great asset for us to use in our exhibition and education work.  Several of the larger pieces are already on display in Bernard Leach’s old workshop and can be seen by visitors to the Leach Pottery museum.”