The Royal Cornwall Museum in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro c ...

holds an extensive mineral collection rooted in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

's mining and engineering heritage (including much of the mineral collection of Philip Rashleigh). The county's artistic heritage is reflected in the museum's art collection. Through the

Courtney Library The Courtney Library is the library of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. It is housed in the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro, Cornwall. The library holds the collection of the Museum as well as around 30,000 documents relating to Cornish famil ...

the museum also provides a collection of rare books and manuscripts to help with education, research and the discovery of Cornish life and culture. The museum also highlights Cornwall's relationship with the wider world through one of the most significant British emigrations of the 19th century. The museum hosts a permanent exhibition of ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman objects, supported by the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

. The museum is part of the Royal Institution of Cornwall (RIC), a

learned society A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership ...

and

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

The Courtney Library

The Courtney Library and Archive holds books, periodicals, archive material and ephemera relating to Cornwall and the South West of England.

Museum building

The Grade II building which has housed the RIC since 1919 was built in 1845 as the Truro Savings Bank and subsequently became Henderson's Mining School. In 1986/7 the RIC acquired the adjacent Truro Baptist Chapel, built in 1848. Together these granite-fronted buildings (linked with a new foyer and shop in 1998) are a distinctive presence in the centre of the historic city of Truro; both buildings were designed by the local architect Philip Sambell, who was deaf and without speech.

History

In July 2022

Cornwall Council Cornwall Council ( kw, Konsel Kernow) is the unitary authority for Cornwall in the United Kingdom, not including the Isles of Scilly, which has its own unitary council. The council, and its predecessor Cornwall County Council, has a traditio ...

announced plans to cease funding the museum. This resulted in the museum stating that it might soon have to close. In October 2022 the Council provided the museum with £100,000 with the stated aim that it would allow the museum to transition to other funding sources.

Collection

Elizabeth Adela Forbes - A Dream Princess

The museum is home to the Trewinnard Coach which dates to around 1700.The

Artognou stone The Artognou stone, sometimes erroneously referred to as the Arthur stone, is an archaeological artefact uncovered in Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was discovered in 1998 in securely dated sixth-century contexts among the ruins at Tintagel ...

found at Tintagel Castle is also at the museum.

Rail access

The nearest railway station is Truro railway station.

References

External links

*
Information
from the

24 Hour Museum Culture24, originally the 24 Hour Museum, is a British charity which publishes websites, ''Culture24'', ''Museum Crush'' and ''Show Me'', about visual culture and heritage in the United Kingdom, as well as supplying data and support services to ...

{{authority control Cornish culture Museums in Cornwall Art museums and galleries in Cornwall Archaeological museums in England History museums in Cornwall Natural history museums in England Geology museums in England Decorative arts museums in England Egyptological collections in England Truro Local museums in Cornwall Organisations based in Cornwall with royal patronage Museums established in 1818 1818 establishments in England