Fairlynch Museum

About the museum

Fairlynch is a Grade II listed Georgian thatched cottage beside the sea in Budleigh Salterton. It was built in 1810 for the local ship-owner Matthew Lee Yeates, who called it Primrose Cottage. The house is a marine cottage orné, with a double-wing staircase and a thatched turret from which Yeates is said to have watched his ships in the bay. By 1870 a local directory already knew it as Fairlynch.

In 1967 four local women bought the house to create an arts centre and museum for the town. Joy Gawne and her sisters gave a large collection of period and theatrical costume, and Priscilla Hull, whose father George Carter had excavated sites in the area since the 1920s, added paintings, lace and archaeology and geology material. Signs and equipment from Budleigh Salterton railway station, closed during the Beeching railway cuts, were saved for the museum in the same year. The Smugglers' Cellar opened in 1968, the Friends of Fairlynch were founded in 1969, and the museum welcomed its 100,000th visitor in 1983.

Today Fairlynch is an educational charity run entirely by volunteers and funded by donations. Its displays cover costume, lace, toys and bears, local geology, archaeology and nature, local history, railways and Sir Walter Ralegh, with changing exhibitions in the upstairs gallery. A Regency-style garden designed in 1988 complements the building.

Highlights

• Costume collection, including period and theatrical dress
• Lace display with what the museum describes as the oldest trolley lace bobbin in England
• Sir Walter Ralegh Room
• Smugglers' Cellar, opened in 1968
• Local geology, archaeology and nature, including the Otter estuary nature reserve
• Regency-style garden beside the cottage

Permanent exhibitions

• Costumes, Lace and Toys – A room of costume with a changing selection on show, together with lace and a collection of toys and bears.
• Sir Walter Ralegh Room – A room devoted to the Elizabethan explorer Sir Walter Ralegh and his links with the local area.
• Smugglers' Cellar – A cellar display on smuggling along the East Devon coast, on show downstairs since 1968.

Founded

1967

Operated by

Budleigh Salterton Arts Centre and Museum (registered charity 306636)

Admission & discounts

Free entry for Friends of Fairlynch. No concession, family or group rates are published.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: not available
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Ramps lead into the museum, but they may be hard to use with motorised wheelchairs. The building is Grade II listed and the upper floor cannot be reached by visitors with disabilities, so wheelchair users can see the two ground-floor exhibition rooms. A toilet large enough for a wheelchair is available on request, but it does not have full disabled facilities. One disabled parking space is at the museum, reached by a tight right-hand turn from Fore Street Hill.

Kids & families

Children under 16 are admitted free but must be accompanied by an adult.

Getting there & parking

The museum is at 27 Fore Street, close to the beach.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

The museum shop sells souvenirs, cards, maps and gifts.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit