Alistair Hardaker | Image: Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery
Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery reports visitor numbers nearly doubled to 50,000 following capital investment and gallery redevelopment project.
Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery has reached 50,000 visitors in the past year, nearly doubling from 28,000 four years ago, after undergoing a transformation that saved it from closure in 2022.
The capital investment project saw the redevelopment of the Mineral Gallery, Heart of Cornwall Gallery, Nature Gallery and the addition of an Art Gallery in the building’s upper gallery. The museum reopened in March 2025 following the latest phase of transformation.
The museum has adopted a new approach to exhibitions, focusing on increased opportunities for interaction and play.
The museum’s co-director Bryony Robins said: “Cornwall deserves a world-class museum and the transformation and increase in visitor numbers proves that local people, schools and visitors to the area want a chance to engage with the region’s history in a meaningful way.”
The museum houses more than one million artefacts and is the region’s largest museum for Cornish heritage, history and culture. Its collections include an antler pick and shovel dating back to the Bronze Age, described as the world’s earliest example of mining, and Bronze Age Lunalae, gold crescent-shaped neck ornaments. The archaeology collection spans 400,000 years of Cornish materials.
Earlier this year the museum was awarded £440,000 through The National Lottery Heritage Fund for the development of its final transformation phase, which will include further upgrades to the visitor experience and educational facilities.
The museum has submitted a pre-application for the next phase of development and has begun community consultation, with further events taking place through the summer.
The museum operates under co-directors Bryony Robins and Jonathan Morton. The Board of Trustees is chaired by Julie Caplin-Grey, chief operating officer for the Hall for Cornwall, and has welcomed several new trustees in the past four years.
Jonathan Morton, museum co-director, said: “We’re incredibly proud of the process the museum has been through over the last four years and we couldn’t have done it without the dedication of our team and trustees.
“Hitting 50k visitors has been a key milestone for us, and we’re looking towards the final phase of transformation with renewed excitement.”
