THE Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro is going on tour for two months over winter, as the building itself closes for major work to take place.

The museum’s learning team has joined forces with the Education Library Service Bus to deliver its Ancient Egypt and Victorian Toys workshops in eight libraries across Cornwall in January and February.

Artistic director Bryony Robins explained: “This will enable us to reach more school children in a short space of time than ever before, while the physical space undergoes an exciting refresh ready to reopen in early spring 2025.” 

Meanwhile, the museum’s engagement team will run a workshop called ‘Treasure’ in conjunction with wellbeing groups across the county. This will involve handling artefacts and exploring themes of Cornish identity and language, arts and folk tales, landscape and sense of place.

Participants will be encouraged to discuss what they consider to be their own treasures and create a collaborative artwork in the form of a wall hanging, to be displayed at the museum when it reopens. 

One of the museum’s current exhibitions — ‘As Above, So Below’ by Jill Randall — is also going on the road and will be at Wheal Martyn Clay Works from January 13 to February 13.

The museum’s regular winter closure is being extended by a month to allow gallery spaces on the ground floor and balcony to be “modernised and reimagined afresh, ushering in a new phase of the museum’s long history”.

This phase of a wider transformation project, which began with the Mineral Gallery last summer, has received £2.3-million from the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is being managed locally by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Programme.

Preparatory work has been taking place throughout the autumn months, but this planned winter closure will allow the major work to forge ahead safely and efficiently. 

The Nature Gallery is being redesigned in consultation with Cornwall Wildlife Trust, creating a spellbinding window into Cornwall's wildlife and biodiversity riches; and the main atrium balcony will become a gallery space, allowing more of the Royal Institution of Cornwall’s impressive art collection to go on public display.

Finally, the museum’s central space will become the Heart of Cornwall Gallery, where Cornish culture and history will be celebrated, from the Cornish language to maritime industries, mining heritage to local folklore.

Executive director Jonathan Morton said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming people back into our new-look physical spaces in the spring, with an exciting exhibition and events programme planned.

“In the meantime, we’re taking the opportunity to get out into the community as much as possible and engage diverse and geographically remote audiences with what the museum has to offer.”