Welcome to Ilfracombe Museum, the centre of cultural heritage for this beautiful seaside town. Founded in 1932 by the avid collector and explorer Mervyn Palmer, our museum is eccentric and visceral, with birds and mammals adorning the walls, bats in cupboards and butterflies in drawers.

Our vast collection spans centuries and continents. Discover the maritime history of Ilfracombe via our morse code station and send your own messages, make a brass rubbing, follow a trail or dive into the dressing up box! This museum is for families, history buffs and novices. Follow our social media or look on our website for the latest events and exhibitions. We have been Feeding Curiosity Since 1932.

We move to our Autumn opening hours from the 1st September – 31st October 2026, and we’re excited to welcome visitors from Tuesday to Saturday. Our doors open at 10:00 AM and close at 5:00 PM each day (last admission 4.30pm). With a variety of exhibits and activities, there’s always something new to discover. Whether you’re a history enthusiast, a curious traveler, or a local looking for a delightful day out, Ilfracombe Museum offers a treasure trove of experiences.

CLOSED MONDAYS & SUNDAYS

Donate to fund the upkeep of our fabulous museum. Your money will go towards running costs, vital repairs, events, workshops and exhibitions. Thanks for keeping Ilfracombe Museum alive, maybe you can help it flourish!

We have a huge project coming up, we need to relocate. Any donation would be gratefully accepted towards our relocation and renovation fund. Thank you.

We’re open again for 2026! We’ve got lots of exciting workshops, history talks and more coming up this season so keep an eye out on our socials and we’ll look forward to seeing you there.

Shipwreck Trail

As part of Coast Week, and going on throughout the Summer, come and try to crack our new Shipwreck Trail! 

Free trail included with entry to the Museum

We’re excited to share that we’re working with North Devon Council and Ilfracombe Town Council on plans to relocate the museum to the Old Post Office on the High Street.

Our current lease is coming to an end and, due to increasing flood risk, we’re no longer able to remain in the existing building.

The good news?

This move gives us a huge opportunity to reimagine the museum for the future — with more space for exhibitions, improved storage and the potential for a café, community space, and better accessibility for everyone.

We’re now preparing a National Lottery grant application to help bring this vision to life. It’s a long-term project, but an exciting one.

This is where you come in…

Over the coming months, we’ll be asking you — our community — what you’d love to see in the new museum. What stories should we tell? What experiences should we create? Your voice will help shape this next chapter.

Let’s build something brilliant together!

In line with other rising costs we have very reluctantly raised the price of our supporters membership

The raise will take effect from Wednesday 1st July 2026 but if your membership needs renewing between July 1st and Dec 31st this year you can still renew at the old rate if you renew before Tuesday 30th June 2026.

The rise will affect all levels of membership with the new prices for our most popular bronze level being: £12 for a concession, £15 for an adult, £23 for a concession couple and £29 for an adult couple, you can revisit as many times as you want and get discounts on our event tickets, still very good value for money!

CLICK HERE to renew your membership now!