Salcombe Maritime Museum

About the museum

Salcombe Maritime Museum was founded in 1974 and has been housed since 1992 in the basement of the Old Council Hall in Market Street, beneath the town’s tourist information centre. It is run by the Salcombe Museum Society, a registered charity staffed entirely by volunteers and funded by donations, membership subscriptions and occasional grants. The museum is accredited by Arts Council England.

The displays follow the links between Salcombe and the sea from ancient times to the Second World War. The Ship Room holds more than thirty paintings of the fast schooners that were built in Salcombe in the nineteenth century to carry fruit from the Azores, the Mediterranean and the West Indies to British ports. Alongside them are boatbuilding tools, wartime mementoes from the time when thousands of American servicemen were based in the town before D-Day, and a camera collection linked to the local photographer A. E. Fairweather.

The Wreck Room shows finds that divers have recovered from the many ships lost along the South Devon coast, among them items from the Spanish Armada ship San Pedro el Mayor, HMS Ramillies, the clipper Gossamer and the windjammer Herzogin Cecilie. It also tells the story of the Salcombe lifeboat disaster of 1916. A small Young Sailors’ Corner has hands-on signalling displays and a pirate treasure chest for children.

Highlights

• More than thirty paintings of Salcombe-built fruit schooners
• Wreck Room with finds from the Armada ship San Pedro el Mayor and other wrecks
• Display on the Salcombe lifeboat disaster of 1916
• Collection of boatbuilding and maritime trade tools
• Young Sailors’ Corner with morse code, semaphore and pirate dressing-up
• Free entry

Permanent exhibitions

• The Ship Room – Paintings of nineteenth-century Salcombe fruit schooners, boatbuilding tools, Second World War mementoes and the Fairweather camera collection.
• The Wreck Room – Objects recovered by divers from wrecks along the South Devon coast, and the story of the 1916 Salcombe lifeboat disaster.
• The Young Sailors’ Corner – A small room with hands-on signalling models, Armada beacons and a pirate treasure chest for children.

Founded

1974

Operated by

Salcombe Museum Society (registered charity no. 1203233)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Entry is free. The museum is funded by donations and membership; members of the Museum Society enter free during opening hours.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: not available
• Accessible parking: no information
• 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

The public rooms are on a single floor at street level, with no steps, stairs or ramps to negotiate, although the museum is in a basement. The museum has no toilets; public toilets are in nearby Whitestrand Car Park.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Hands-on stations

The Young Sailors’ Corner has hands-on models and equipment; children can light the Armada beacons, send messages in morse code or semaphore, and dress up from a pirate’s treasure chest.

Getting there & parking

The museum is in the basement of the Old Council Hall, beneath Salcombe Tourist Information Centre in Market Street.

Amenities & dining

The museum has no toilet facilities; public toilets are in Whitestrand Car Park. The museum runs an online shop; an on-site shop is not mentioned.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit