Museum Details
 | Royal Cornwall Museum | Contact Person Hilary Bracegirdle T: 01872 272205 | Admission Free |
| Opening Hours | |
Mon-Sat until April 2011 then Tues - Sat Courtney Library opening times Tues, Wed, and Fri 10-1 and 2-4 Sat 10-1 Closed Thursdays
| Closed Sundays, Mondays and Bank Holidays Courtney Library additionally closed Thursdays |
Museum Description
The Royal Institution of Cornwall - the organisation that owns and manages the Royal Cornwall Museum and Courtney Library - was founded in 1818 for 'the promotion of knowledge in natural history, ethnology and the fine and industrial arts, especially in relation to Cornwall'. This is still at the heart of everything we do, from collecting, displaying, exhibitions, education, publishing and our outreach programmes.
Over the years generous benefactors have donated an amazing array of objects, broadening the collection so that it covers for example Egyptology (hence our famous unwrapped mummy), fine art and world cultures, as well as classical Greek and Roman objects. The Rashleigh gallery contains a world-famous collection of minerals, the core of which was amassed by Phillip Rashleigh of Menabilly at the end of the 18th century. It includes the largest specimen of liroconite ever found, and a large gold nugget found at Perranaworthal. The museum's decorative arts collection and old master drawings are also very strong, the latter chiefly due to Alfred de Pass, another generous benefactor.
| Type of Museum | Types of Collections | Facilities |
| Applied and Fine Art Industrial Heritage Local and Family History Mining Social History | Applied and Fine Art Archaeology Classical Greek & Roman Costume Egyptology Fishing Folklore Geology Industrial Heritage Local History Mining Military Natural History Religious History Shipping Social History Textiles Tools Weapons World Cultures | Toilets |
