Curator’s choice

October 2019 – September 2020 This exhibition of paintings of traditional boats of Falmouth showcases the work of artist James Dodds. It includes several new commissions including a Falmouth Pilot cutter which will be the largest painting James has ever undertaken.  

Standard diving dress is a type of diving suit that was formerly used for all underwater work, now largely superseded by lighter and more comfortable equipment.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…

Torre Abbey 3 March – 3 June 2018 In another exciting first for the Museum, the groundbreaking and award winning exhibition Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed began a three year tour of museums and galleries in the UK opening at Torre Abbey in March 2018, where it was on show for three months before moving…

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…

2018 sees 15 Years of The National Maritime Museum Cornwall Beginnings The National Maritime Museum Cornwall is a fully independent museum, the result of collaboration between the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich and the former Cornwall Maritime Museum in Falmouth. The Cornwall Maritime Museum evolved from a collection reflecting Cornwall’s rich maritime history gathered over 150…

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…

Meet the creator of this stunning installation Falmouth based artist Dan Arnold @thiscountryside is the creator of Heaving Lines, a stunning, sensitive and inspiring representation of the iceberg suspended over the lifeboat in our exhibition Titanic Stories. Heaving lines, with monkey fist knots tied as weights at the end, were often used to connect one boat with…