From Monday 6 January 2025, reopening Saturday 15 February 2025, National Maritime Museum Cornwall will temporarily close to undertake some essential repairs to the building’s roof.
The Museum’s roof has leaked for a long time, and with buckets placed across the building to catch the drips, it has often meant we’ve had more buckets than boats on display. Previous attempts have been made to repair the roof, and despite everyone’s best efforts, the proposed solutions were sadly unsuccessful. It’s now time to banish the buckets!
National Maritime Museum Cornwall is an iconic building, sitting proudly on the edge of Falmouth’s harbour. The architecturally award-winning design is complex and was revolutionary for its time. Securing the Museum’s future is paramount to ensuring generations to come can continue to discover and enjoy Cornwall’s rich and globally significant maritime legacy.
As custodians of the building, and the collections within it, we’re thrilled to have been awarded an Arts Council Museum Estate and Development grant to undertake a more radical and comprehensive approach to repair the leaks – one we believe will finally resolve the challenges we have. The work will involve removing the existing membrane and installing a new roofing system, crucially improving drainage and weatherproofing.
The work will be highly disruptive, so we have taken the difficult decision to fully close the Museum for the duration of the main works. This then provides us with the opportunity to undertake some other vital work at the same time including:
As a museum dedicated to sharing our collections with people, closing our doors for six weeks isn’t something we relish. We know our local community, in particular, use us as a hub for learning, research, exploration and fun, so it is our intention to make the closure as short as possible. We will reopen in time for February half term and our Science of the Sea activities on Saturday 15 February. For those who have been to Science of the Sea before, you know what we mean when we say we’ll be reopening with a bang!
During the closure there will be the chance to learn about, and handle, some of the Museum’s objects in the foyer, providing an insight into the Museum’s wider collection. The Gift Shop will remain open too, and we’ll have some of the team available if you have any questions.
In the meantime, if you have any queries, take a look at the FAQs below or contact us on enquiries@nmmc.co.uk or 01326 313388.
The Museum will be closed to the public Monday 6 January – Friday 14 February, reopening on Saturday 15 February.
The project involves major disruption to the main areas of the Museum, including the removal of the ramps that connect the two sides of the building and the need for significant internal scaffolding. We must close the Museum to safeguard the health and wellbeing of visitors and staff.
This then also allows us the opportunity to clean object cases and condition check the objects in the lesser effected galleries.
The Library team will be working throughout the closure and so are available to contact. We are unable to provide visitor access at this time.
Whilst we have secured funding for the project from the Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND), the Museum has allocated just over £136,000 of its own reserves to the repairs. A donation of any kind would help immensely. Please contact enquires@nmmc.co.uk if you like to support us.
Yes, the Gift Shop will remain open throughout the Museum closure. You can also visit our online shop too.
Yes, absolutely. Where possible, we are determined to maintain our ongoing relationships with schools by offering outreach sessions during the temporary closure. If you are a school and want to find out our plans, please contact Seth Hall on sethhall@nmmc.co.uk.
Yes, we will have a dedicated webpage on the Museum’s website, plus you can check our social media feeds too.
National Maritime
Museum Cornwall Trust
Discovery Quay
Falmouth Cornwall
TR11 3QY
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See our opening hours
Tel: +44(0)1326 313388
Email: enquiries@nmmc.co.uk
