Update 19th July: We strongly suggest booking a ticket in advance to be sure of your visit. Face coverings must be worn in the museum unless visible proof of exemotion is shown. . Please book your tickets here

Welcome to Ilfracombe Museum

Ilfracombe Museum Trust CIO

Explore a world of curiosities at our friendly museum. Discover the story of Ilfracombe’s rich history and find objects from around the world. Be amazed at the variety of our collections, from natural history and archaeology, art and photography, costume and domestic history. There’s something here for everyone to enjoy.

Book Tickets Now

Plan Your Visit

We are open Mon to Friday and Saturday afternoons. We strongly recommend booking in advance as visitor numbers are restricted

Book Tickets Now

Visitor Information

What’s On

We’ve got lots of exciting free family activities for you to take part in – click the Stay Curious button

Stay Curious

Events

Support Us

Details of how you can support what we do

Become a Supporter

Sign up – for inspiration, news and other good stuff!

Explore a world of curiosities at our friendly museum

Ilfracombe’s great value family attraction

A fascinating place to visit come rain or shine

Overflowing with the curious and the wonderful, we have unimaginable finds from around the world – from a shrunken head to pickled bats! There is something here for everyone and children visit free! A great experience for all the family.

The whole family will be intrigued by the variety of displays. Peer into drawers and peek into cupboards; wander through eight different rooms and uncover the museum’s hidden treasures. You won’t be disappointed by your visit to one of North Devon’s best museums!

There’s more to discover than you’d ever imagine!

Museum gift shop – browse our great gift range

Children’s quizzes, brass rubbing & regular children’s activities.

Under 16s FREE. Disabled access.

Follow us on Instagram …

ilfracombe_museum

Would you like to support the work of Ilfracombe M $Would you like to support the work of Ilfracombe Museum? For as little as £12.50 a year you can help us to look after the wonderful treasures we look after, and to plan for the future. We would love you to visit https://membermojo.co.uk/ilfracombemuseum and consider becoming a Supporter. In retyurn we give you free entry to the museum all year!🙌 What's not to love?! #lovemuseums #support #forthefuture #devonmuseums #ilfracombe$

It's #NationalMarineWeek, celebrating the wonderfu $It's #NationalMarineWeek, celebrating the wonderful variety of marine life we have in the Uk. Here at the museum we have been looking at our fine little collection of Victorian books on marine science . Ilfracombe in the 1850s was something of a magnet for students of marine life such as Philip Gosse, and writers who like to ramble on the seashore such as George Eliot. And there's something special about the care taken in making books years ago - the illustrations, the decorated covers. We love them! #marinelife #victorian #books #devonmuseums #archives #Ilfracombe #naturalscience #scientists #illustration #woodcuts #collections$

Have you seen many butterflies outside lately? 🦋
Here at the museum we have a special love of butterflies ( and moths too!) and want to help them as much as we can.
If you do too, you can take part in the Big Butterfly Count until the 8th August. The weather is perfect for sitting outside and counting how many types you can see.

If you want to take part, follow the link 👇 on how to do it and where to send your results
https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/about
Why not post your butterfly pics here too, we'd love to see what you have spotted!

And don't forget you can see beautiful butterly designs in our exhibition at the Landmark theatre until 22nd August.

Thanks to Isobel (10) and Thom (7) for sending us

Do you know today is St Swithun's Day? The legend $Do you know today is St Swithun's Day? The legend says that if we have sunshine today then we'll have another 40 days' worth.☀️ But .... 'St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain , For forty days it will remain''. ☔️ In Ilfracombe we used to record the sunshine on the top of Capstone. Does anyone remember this sunshine recorder? 🤔 We know the recorder was installed in 1908 and that in 1938 and 1947 Ilfracombe was awarded the accolade of being the sunniest west country resort. Can anyone tell us the name if the lady in the photo and the year it was taken? Please comment below 👇 #StSwithunsday #rainyday #sunshine #Ilfracombe #museum #weather #holidays #record$

Today is #NationalSimplicityDay . Just for fun w $Today is #NationalSimplicityDay . Just for fun we thought we would share from our collection a simple object from the past, and it's modern equivalent- the tablet. 😁 Which one is simpler? They pretty much did the same job ! 🙌 Our clay tablet is around 300 years old from the Sumerian civilsation, and was used with a reed pen to record all kinds of info. in a script called cuneiform. It fits in the hand just beautifully and was portable and quick to use. And it never lost signal nor battery life...🤣🤣 #nationalsimplicityday #museumcollections #devonmuseums #ilfracombemuseum #oldtechnology #tablet #cuneiform #ancienthistory$

This week is unofficially Hygiene Week, Ilfracombe $This week is unofficially Hygiene Week, Ilfracombe's motto is Ilfracombe Potens Salubritate which celebrates its commitment to health, hygiene and sanitation. Previous to 1851 however this wasn't always the case - the local Board of Health was created that year due to worrying Cholera outbreaks. Do you remember our 'Penny Lick' post some weeks ago? We suspect that trend contributed to the Cholera outbreaks! Thank goodness for the ice cream cone of today! #ilfracombe #healthandhygiene #smallmuseum #weirdandwonderful$

Anyone heard there's a football game on Sunday...? $Anyone heard there's a football game on Sunday...?! Did you know that Ilfracombe has a long and proud footballing history? Here are some photos from our sporting archives to keep you going until we can support England (or Italy if you prefer!) on Sunday night. #itscominghome #euros2020 #ilfracombe #smallmuseum #weirdandwonderful$

Our Stay Curious project has come to a close but $Our Stay Curious project has come to a close but we thought we'd show you a few images of what has been going on during the project - starting with our Curious Creatures in a Jar exhibition. This was unveiled at our Open Day last Sunday and features work by Kingsley school and also by youngsters from the Ilfracombe communuty. Inspired by our 'pickled bats' and 2 headed creatures, they made their own crazy specimens , giving them a name and a museum label too. We think they look great,😍 so thanks to all who took part. If you are inspired to make one at home, find out how on our website, at the Stay Curious page . #specimens #curious #staycurious #ArtFund #ilfracombemuseum #creativity$

On Sunday we presented prizes to the winners of ou $On Sunday we presented prizes to the winners of our Ilfracombe Academy butterfly design competition 🤩 Here is 2nd prize winner Zsa Zsa next to her fantastic design! 🏆 Zsa Zsa was inspred by our wonderful Chinese mask and our African collections. You can see a large selection of all the entries, including the winners and Highly Commended, in the foyer of the Landmark theatre until the 22nd August. Well done to all who took part 🙌 #artanddesign #museums #ilfracombe #devonmuseums #artfund #staycurious #prizes #landmarktheatre$

More photos from our Stay Curious Open Day yesterd $More photos from our Stay Curious Open Day yesterday. Thanks to our lovely volunteers and trustees who helped out on the the day! 🙌 It was super to see so many people ( in time managed slots of course) and to have some kids activities back inside the museum again! Our wonderful Stay Curious 'Escape' artwork was admired by many! #staycurious #artfund #ilfracombe #museum #artwork #kidscraftsfun$

Today we have been installing our butterfly design $Today we have been installing our butterfly design exhibition at the Landmark theatre - and it is looking amazing! It's a great reminder of how many talented students there are at Ilfracombe Academy 🤩🥳 Come along to the Landmark theatre foyer and see these lovely artworks for yourself. Thank you to the Landmark for hosoting this exhibition until the 22nd August 👏 #youngartists #landmarktheatre #ilfracombemuseum #staycurious #artfund #exhibitionart$

Load More… Follow on Instagram