Ilfracombe Museum

A eccentric collection of items (rubbish).
It did give me some interesting memories of time gone by but I really didn’t enjoy my trip round Ilfracombe Museum. I’m sure it does appear to an older audience!

Ilfracombe has many little attractions which are not just for the kids. Ilfracombe museum is a great place to go and has many fascinating fact about north devon.
This place used to be free to visit, which was great. A great place to see and look at the interesting things that are held there.

An amazing place. Could not believe how much was packed into this relatively small building (it just looks like a large white-​washed house from the outside).
Started out as a private collectors personal stowaway — hoarder in the extreme. Then in 1932 the place was opened to the public for free as an experiment and over 1000 people attended to peruse the curiosities. Its been open to tghe public ever since
A very diverse collection of antiquities. Tools and gadgets from yesteryear, local historical artefacts and photographs and a vast collection of natural history specimens. I spent a very happy couple of hours rooting through drawer after drawer after drawer of butterflies, moths, insects, sea creatures and bird eggs collected both locally and from the original curators trips around the globe. Fascinating stuff. There were some very unusual items, and specied that are now extinct, along with very thorough accompanying info.
My other favourite bit was a room dedicated to the ‘Services’ in Ilfracombe over the years, ie Fire service and Lifeboats etc,. The story is told in photos, words and exhibits of how the small town had narrowly missed destruction several times by rampaging fires (the second time as recently as the 1980s).
Something for all ages and interests. I thibnk we paid a couple of pound entrance thats all — can’t remember exactly bt it was nominal. The gift shop was excellent — really good prices, and plenty of ‘pocket money’ items for kids. Also I think its fair to say that the staff were passionate and committed to the place and were really knowledgeable and helpful.