12 Best Museums In Cornwall

ShelterBox Visitor Centre goes down easiest with under-eights, and Discovering42 is close behind, since both are built around explaining one clear idea instead of around atmosphere. PK Porthcurno Museum of Global Communication also works well at that age, since machines with buttons and wires are their own reward before anybody explains what they did. The industrial sites and the darker attractions are better held back until a child is old enough to be curious rather than unsettled.

Geevor Tin Mine is one of the better family visits in the county precisely because it is not a conventional museum. The interest is in scale and machinery and in seeing where people actually worked, which lands with children who would refuse a gallery. Wheal Martyn Clay Works works the same way. Both involve real terrain and real weather in parts, so boots are more use than a pushchair, and going underground is not for every child.

Yes, and this is the practical reason to know the list. Every one of the twelve Cornwall museums records indoor space and only three have any outdoor element at all, so this is the obvious substitute when a beach day washes out. The industrial sites are the ones to check on, since a former mine or clay works usually has an outdoor part to the route that is a great deal less appealing sideways in the rain.

That they are honest about what they are. Bodmin Jail and Museum of Witchcraft deal in punishment, superstition and death, and they do not soften it for a family audience just because families visit. Some children find that thrilling and remember it for years; others find it genuinely frightening and want to leave. You know which yours is, and if you are unsure, read the venue's own guidance on age suitability rather than deciding at the door.