Penryn Museum
Free, volunteer-run museum in Penryn's old market house and town hall, telling the story of the town from its medieval market to the 20th century.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
Penryn Museum occupies the ground floor of the town hall in the centre of Penryn, a historic market port in Cornwall. In 1259 Henry III granted the Bishop of Exeter a charter for a weekly market in the town, and trading went on around the site for centuries. Work on the market house began around 1570, with open arcades where stalls were set up; the glass-fronted cases and windows of the museum follow the line of those old arches.
The town hall was added in 1825 and included a small borough jail on the ground floor. The clock tower and council chamber followed in 1839, and in 1909 the old black-faced clock was replaced by the illuminated dials still seen today. As shops multiplied in the town, the market declined, and the building opened as a museum in 1973. A major refurbishment took place in 1998. In front of the building stands the Fish Cross, a scheduled monument named after the medieval fish market held at this junction.
The displays cover many aspects of local life. Visitors can see the rare mechanism and granite weights of the original town clock, made by the clockmaker Thomas Tompion, together with old fire appliances, toys, kitchen appliances, advertisements, historic photographs and a piece of stone from Glasney. Newer displays look at the town's postal service and at the granite industry, which was once the area's equivalent of mining. The museum is run by volunteers.
Highlights
- Mechanism and granite weights of the old Tompion town clock
- Display on Penryn's granite industry
- Stone from Glasney and historic photographs of the town
- Old fire appliances, toys and kitchen appliances
- Setting in the former market house, beside the Fish Cross
Permanent exhibition
- Penryn's history – Displays on the market house, the old town clock, the granite industry, the postal service and everyday life in Penryn, with historic photographs and objects.
- Founded
- 1973
Admission & discounts
Admission is free.
Entry is free.
Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Kids & families
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Getting there & parking
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Amenities & dining
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Events & venue rental
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Plan your visit
| Good to know | The museum is run by volunteers, who can help with questions about the collections. A printed heritage trail booklet about the people who shaped Penryn is on sale for £1. |
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