Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden
st ives
The Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, located in St Ives, Cornwall, celebrates the life and work of one of Britain’s most important 20th-century artists.
Museums & Galleries in Cornwall
12 museums and galleries across Cornwall - from Tate St Ives and the Barbara Hepworth Museum to the Royal Cornwall Museum (free entry) and Geevor Tin Mine underground tours.
Cornwall has a stronger cultural offer than its reputation for surf and sand suggests. The 12 museums and galleries listed here range from world-class modern art institutions to working industrial heritage sites with underground access.
Tate St Ives sits above Porthmeor Beach with a permanent collection built around the St Ives School - Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Patrick Heron, and the artists who gathered here from the 1940s onwards. The curved gallery windows look directly onto the Atlantic. The 2017 extension added a new wing and improved the approach considerably. A short walk away in St Ives town centre, the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden preserves her studio as it was when she died in 1975, with bronze sculptures set among the tropical plants she planted herself.
The National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth occupies a purpose-built waterfront building with real boats suspended from the ceiling, hands-on exhibits, and a tall ship visible from the harbour tower. It fills half a day comfortably and handles wet weather well.
The Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro is the county’s oldest, founded in 1818. It holds the most complete collection of Cornish minerals in existence, alongside Mesolithic to medieval archaeology and a strong Newlyn School painting collection. Free entry.
Cornwall’s mining heritage has four dedicated sites: Geevor Tin Mine near St Just offers underground tours into 18th-century tunnels; Levant Mine and Beam Engine has a working Cornish beam engine maintained by the National Trust; King Edward Mine Museum near Camborne covers the engineering history; and Wheal Martyn near St Austell tells the china clay story with outdoor trails through the landscape.
Penlee House Gallery and Museum in Penzance has the strongest collection of Newlyn School paintings outside London, alongside local history displays. The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle holds the world’s largest collection of witchcraft-related artefacts and regularly stops visitors in their tracks.
Falmouth Art Gallery
falmouth
Falmouth Art Gallery occupies the upper floor of the Municipal Buildings on The Moor, above the town library.
Geevor Tin Mine
Discover the Story of Cornish Metal Mining at this World Heritage Site.
penzance
Geevor Tin Mine is a museum and heritage site that offers guided underground tours where visitors can explore the mine shafts and tunnels that once echoed the toil of miners.
King Edward Mine Museum
camborne
King Edward Mine is the oldest complete mine site in Cornwall still standing with all its surface buildings intact. Located in Troon, about 1.
Launceston Castle
launceston
Launceston Castle, located in the town of Launceston in Cornwall, is a striking Norman fortress with a rich and layered history.
Levant Mine and Beam Engine
pendeen
Levant Mine sits on the cliff tops between Pendeen and St Just, within the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site designated in 2006.
Museum of Witchcraft and Magic
One of Britain's Most Unique and Well-Loved Independent Museums
boscastle
Established in 1951 by Cecil Williamson, the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic is a unique institution devoted to investigating the history, folklore, and cultural significance of witchcraft, magic, and the occult.
National Maritime Museum Cornwall
Major maritime museum on Falmouth's waterfront - boats, navigation and ocean science.
falmouth
The National Maritime Museum Cornwall occupies a striking modern building on Discovery Quay in Falmouth, its position on the waterfront reflecting the town's deep connection to the sea.
Penlee House Gallery & Museum
penzance
Penlee House Gallery & Museum sits within Penlee Park on Morrab Road, a short walk from Penzance promenade.
Royal Cornwall Museum
Cornwall's oldest museum - minerals, archaeology and fine art in the heart of Truro.
truro
The Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro is the county's oldest and most comprehensive museum, housing collections that span natural history, archaeology, fine art and world cultures.
Tate St Ives
World-class modern art gallery overlooking Porthmeor Beach.
st ives
Tate St Ives is a major modern and contemporary art gallery set directly above Porthmeor Beach, its curved white building designed to echo the forms of the surrounding coastline.
Wheal Martyn China Clay Museum
st austell
Wheal Martyn is the only museum in the UK dedicated to the china clay industry that shaped mid-Cornwall's landscape for over 250 years.