Celebrating our relationship with the sea
National Maritime Museum Cornwall is a place to enrich your understanding of the sea and Cornwall.
Through our exhibitions programme, we aspire to bring new and diverse perspectives to maritime issues and highlight their relevance to the present day. We also bring rare objects from around the world to Cornwall to tell local, national, and international stories.
Your admission fee is reinvested back into the museum to enhance and grow our work, which also includes our family learning activities, our award-winning education programmes, our boat building and conservation projects, and our work to preserve and promote Cornwall’s maritime heritage. Read more about how you support the Museum here.
The Museum opened in 2003 and is located on the aptly named Discovery Quay in Falmouth, South Cornwall.
What we do:
- Curate ambitious and unexpected exhibitions.
- Develop partnership projects with national and international museums, bringing new connections with world cultures to Cornwall.
- Bring artefacts from national and international collections and cultural heritage rarely seen outside of London and the UK’s other metropolitan centres.
- Spearhead unique collaborations between national organisations, collectors, artists, and leading academics.
- Engage with our communities to include their voices and stories. We have ambitions to position NMMC at the forefront of challenging preconceptions about what museums can and should be curating and collecting.
- Aim to make Cornish maritime history inspiring for everyone.
- Bring new and diverse perspectives to maritime issues while giving them contemporary relevance.
Some things you may not know about us:
- We are not funded or supported in any way by the government or other bodies when it comes to our day to day running – we rely on our admission fees and Gift Aid.
- All our revenue is reinvested back into the Museum to enhance and grow our activity.
- We are a charity. Read more about that here.
- We rely on our volunteers who give over 30,000 hours every year.
Stunning location
The Museum sits beside a thriving harbour that’s the third deepest natural harbour in the world. Falmouth is Britain’s traditional gateway to the Atlantic and one of Europe’s finest sailing waters. There’s plenty to see and do here, from bathing on golden beaches to exploring a patchwork of shops and eateries.
The beautiful Fal River runs through an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with the town being renowned for its creative buzz that features art galleries and an eclectic mix of venues hosting contemporary works, independent films, and live performances.
Falmouth’s maritime legacy and coastal culture is a huge part of its charm, boasting world class water sports on its sheltered shoreline. You’ll find gig rowing, kayaking, diving, and regular sailing events such as Falmouth Regatta and the Pendennis Cup.
