Curator’s choice

This beautiful little chest, or Victorian writing slope, belonged to one of Falmouth’s ship and boat owners, Captain Albert Edward Benney.

Standard diving dress is a type of diving suit that was formerly used for all underwater work, now largely superseded by lighter and more comfortable equipment. The diving suit on display at the museum was made by Siebe Gorman. It is made from heavy canvas, lead soled shoes (14lbs) a copper helmet, and a lead…

At first glance a coracle seems a rather unlikely water craft, with no discernible bow or stern, and a strangely shaped paddle for propulsion. But they have stood the test of time as working boats: made from locally sourced materials, cheap to build, light-weight for ease of carrying, and a draft of only a few…

Hevva! Hevva! This horn looks quite ordinary, but it played an incredibly special role in Cornish history. It belongs to a period where the pilchard industry was one of the keystones of the Cornish economy. The seasonal pilchard fishery supported communities across the county and provided a key export of fish to Mediterranean countries, as…

“Pilchards! Whose bodies yield the fragrant oil and make the London lamps at midnight smile!” Peter Pindar 1783. Cornwall once relied upon the sea for nearly everything: food, transport, trade, defence and contact with the outside world. Fishing was always a vital part of the Cornish way of life and in the 18th and 19th…

Where we introduce you to some of the stories behind objects in the Museum… This model is a scale replica of Slippen, a Cornish pilot gig built in 1830. Gigs were used in the Cornish harbours to row a pilot out to the incoming ships. The pilots knew the local waters and could navigate the ships…