30 Best Museums In Devon

Because so much of the county touches it. Devon has coast on the north and the south, and the towns along both grew on fishing, boatbuilding and trade, so the local history a museum has to work with is maritime history. Salcombe Maritime Museum and Brixham Heritage Museum are that pattern exactly. It makes them unusually good companions to a beach day: an hour inside explains what the harbour outside used to be for.

They are worth a stop rather than a journey. A local museum works beautifully as the indoor half of a day when you are already in the town — market, lunch, an hour in the museum, home — and disappoints when it has been built up as the destination. The commitment is small either way, which is the point. Go in with modest expectations and a child who likes objects, and these are consistently better value than their size suggests.

The Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery is the entry with the scale to hold both at once, because a larger museum can offer different rooms doing different things rather than one collection everyone must agree on. In a two-room town museum a wide age gap tends to mean one child is bored throughout. If the smaller places appeal, plan a short visit and pair it with something outdoors rather than expecting it to fill the day.

Twelve of the thirty have outdoor space recorded, which is more than you would expect from a category this firmly indoors. A La Ronde and Thelma Hulbert Gallery both carry outdoor flags, so a fine day need not rule them out — grounds, a garden or a courtyard turn a wet-weather standby into somewhere you might choose anyway. For the rest, save them for the grey mornings and spend the bright ones on the coast.