The Museum of Cornish Life

Step through the unassuming doors of the Museum to reveal an Aladdin’s cave of surprises.

Housed in the town’s historic Market Buildings, and free to enter, the Museum is spread over five display halls on three floors. Thousands of objects and changing exhibitions and events will keep you fascinated, entertained — and coming back for more.

This impressive record of Cornish life was founded by the Helston Old Cornwall Society in 1949 with Mr William Dalton, licensee of the Beehive pub across the road, as its first honorary curator. Inside the Museum you can peer through the glass of an original 17th century window found during renovations to a former bakery on Meneage Street, examine the enormous cider press – and even come face to face with a dragon!

You’ll also find a remarkable record of Cornish domestic life, the local fishing, agriculture and mining trades, as well as memorabilia from lost Helston gems including the fire station and railway.

Regularly changing exhibitions, talks and events, as well as the extensive collection, mean there’s always something new to discover at The Museum of Cornish Life.