Mount Edgcumbe House

Over het museum

Mount Edgcumbe House was built between 1547 and 1550 for the Edgcumbe family, who had held the land since the 15th century. Its design was unusual for the time: the house faces outwards to take in the views instead of being built for defence. It is made of red local Staddon Grit with carved granite facings and has distinctive curved leaded windows. In 1515 King Henry VIII had given licence to enclose the surrounding land as a deer park, and descendants of the original fallow deer still roam there.

The Edgcumbes rose in rank over the centuries, becoming barons in 1742 and earls in 1789. In 1941 German bombs gutted the house during the Second World War. Restoration began in 1958 under the 6th Earl, and in 1971 the 7th Earl sold the estate to Cornwall County Council and Plymouth City Council, which still own it jointly. The house opened to the public in 1988, with interiors restored in an 18th-century classical style.

The rooms hold treasures collected by the family, including three large 16th-century Flemish tapestries that were restored in a project begun in 2005, Boulle furniture, rare Irish Bronze Age horns, clocks, silver, Plymouth porcelain and paintings by artists such as Sir Joshua Reynolds and Willem van de Velde. The house stands in an 865-acre country park of formal gardens and a Grade I listed landscape, which is free to enter every day.

Hoogtepunten

• Tudor mansion rebuilt after bomb damage in 1941
• Three restored 16th-century Flemish tapestries
• Paintings by Reynolds and Willem van de Velde, Boulle furniture and Plymouth porcelain
• Dressing-up collection for visitors
• Free 865-acre country park, deer park and Earl's Garden

Vaste collectie

• The house and its collection – Classical interiors holding family treasures such as 16th-century Flemish tapestries, Boulle furniture, silver, Plymouth porcelain and paintings by Reynolds and Van de Velde.
• A story in 100 objects – A series of illustrated stories about individual objects in the Mount Edgcumbe collection, such as paintings of estate workers by Nicholas Condy.

Opgericht

1988

Beheerder

Plymouth City Council and Cornwall Council

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

These are the 2026 house admission prices. The country park is free to enter, but car parking charges apply seven days a week.

Toegankelijkheid

• Deels rolstoeltoegankelijk
• Lift
• Aangepast toilet
• Gehandicaptenparkeerplaats
• Hulphonden welkom: geen informatie
• Tastmodellen / voelbare objecten: geen informatie
• Rondleidingen in gebarentaal: geen informatie
• Informatie in eenvoudige taal: geen informatie
• Audiodescriptie: geen informatie

A disabled car park is on the driveway to the house; follow the signs from the main park entrance. Special access to the house is available, and visitors should phone in advance for advice. A passenger lift in the house reaches the first floor, where the exhibition rooms are. Accessible toilets are at the Orangery Restaurant, Dry Walk, the Barrow Centre and Rame car parks, and in the house during the season. A volunteer-run park buggy is a courtesy service when the house is open.

Kinderen & gezin

Erg geschikt voor kinderen & gezinnen

• Gezinsrondleidingen & workshops
• Doe- en voelstations

The house has a Tudor dressing-up collection, and the park rangers and estate run family activities and school-group sessions, including survival skills and other outdoor learning. The wider country park has trails, beaches and woodland to explore. Children's tickets for the house are £6.50.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

From Plymouth drive via the Tamar Bridge (A38), then A374 and B3247 to Millbrook and Mount Edgcumbe, or use the Torpoint car ferry and the A374 and B3247 via Antony; follow the brown signs. Coaches from Plymouth are advised to use the coastal road via Whitsand Bay.

Service & horeca

• Café
• Restaurant
• Museumwinkel

The Orangery Garden Cafe is in the formal gardens of the lower park, and the Farriers Cafe is also on the estate. Independent shops, galleries and studios are in the Barrow Centre. Free public toilets are at Cremyll, the Orangery, Dry Walk car park, the Barrow Centre and Rame Head car park.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

• Ruimtes te huur
• Zakelijke evenementen
• Bruiloften / trouwceremonies

The estate has pages for weddings, celebrations, conferences, team building and film locations.

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