Exhibitions

This show focuses on the ancestry of several prominent Porthleven families, linked to the construction of the dock, boatbuilding, fishing and net-making.

Among the 62 passengers and crew from Cornwall who were travelling on the White Star liner RMS TITANIC on that fateful night of 14th April 1912 in the North Atlantic were the West family.

Our major exhibition TITANIC STORIES examines the stories of the Titanic’s momentous sinking on 15 April 1912, re-appraising many of the myths, controversies and assumptions that still linger around one of the most well-known historic events of the 20th century.

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…

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…

Hear insights into the exhibition Guest curator Dr Eric Kentley on our major exhibition Titanic Stories which examines the stories of the Titanic’s momentous sinking on 15 April 1912, re-appraising many of the myths, controversies and assumptions that still linger around one of the most well-known historic events of the 20th century.