Dartmouth Museum (7 min) 01803 832923
A small and unusually interesting Museum housed in an old Merchants House dated 1640. The Museum houses marine and local artefacts, including a superb collection of ships in bottles and an extensive photography c archive of the local area, shipbuilding and shipping on the Dart. King Charles II held court in this magnificent room whilst stormbound in Dartmouth in 1671. Some of the unique features of the room are the original panelling and the superb plaster ceiling.
Britannia Royal Navel College (7 Min) 01803 834224
High on a hill above the town of Dartmouth in Devon, south west England, Britannia Royal Naval College has been training Royal Naval officers on this site since 1905. In fact, naval officers' training in Dartmouth goes back to 1863, when the old wooden hull HMS BRITANNIA was first moored in the River Dart. The job has always been the same and is now encapsulated, as you might expect, in a mission statement:
Newcomen Engine House (10 min) 01803 834224
Thomas Newcomen is one of Dartmouth's most famous sons. His pumping engine represents a landmark in the development of steam engines. He was born in 1663, the son of a merchant and ship owner. The family had strict Baptist beliefs and, throughout his life, Thomas was a highly active preacher.
He worked as an ironmonger and inventor and by 1707 was living next to the Guildhall. With his partner, a fellow Baptist, Jon Calley, he developed a steam engine which represented one of the major advances of the Industrial Revolution. He developed a scale model of his engine in his workshop in Dartmouth around 1710 and the first working engine, built near Dudley Castle in the South Staffordshire coalfield, followed two years later. By the time of his death in 1729 there were over a hundred engines working all over Europe.
The engine on display in Dartmouth was donated by the British Transport Commission to the Newcomen Society in 1963 and erected within an old electricity sub station. This particular engine was built around the end of the 18th Century and used by the Coventry Canal Company from 1821 to 1913 for pumping water from a well into the canal at Hawkesbury Junction.
The engine is a direct descendent of Newcomen's first machine. Inside the Newcomen Engine House the massive machine stands proud and attractive and wooden interpretive panels made by local craftsman Peter Walmsley tell the story of Thomas Newcomen and his inventions.
Cookworthy Museum (25 min) 01548 853235
In the Old Grammar School you find an historic building, a collection and a local history archive. Each one of these would be worth visiting on its own, but to experience the three is exceptional. The headmaster's chair and canopy with portrait of Thomas Crispin, founder of the Grammar School, dominates the original panelled school room, complete with the carved initials and names of generations of schoolboys. The museum is named in honour of William Cookworthy, a Kingsbridgian who became an apothecary in Plymouth and using the china clays of Devon and Cornwall, made the first hard paste English porcelain.
Devonshire Collection of Period Costume (25 min) Totnes
The collection comprises indoor and outdoor wear from c.1750 onwards. There are garments, underwear, hats, shoes, and all types of accessories including jewellery, shawls, parasols, bags, embroidered items and lace. Supporting material such as photographs; pictures; ornaments; and curtains and other textiles are also represented in the collection. The majority of the collection comprises women's costume, although there are some fine examples of men's outfits.
Totnes Elizabethan Museum (27 min) 01803 863821
Totnes Museum is contained within an authentic Elizabethan Merchant’s House, built around 1575 for the Kelland family. The house retains many features dating back to the Elizabethan period and has been painstakingly restored. Collections, dating from 5000BC, relate to the social, cultural, economic history of Totnes, include a room dedicated to the life of Charles Babbage.
There is also children's and babies wear. Of particular note are: five fine silk 18th century dresses; several early printed cotton dresses c.1800-1830; a Courteney family wedding dress, 1803; a silk pelisse, c.1815 which belonged to Lady Hillier, wife of one of Nelson's admirals; many silk and cotton dresses, c.1840-60; a number of garments belonging to Lady Radford of Plymouth and Exeter, c.1900-1908; some Liberty garments, c.1893-1980s; a Fortuny printed velvet evening coat, c.1927; a gentleman's cloth coat and waistcoat, embroidered in silk, c.1770 donated by Lady Devon, and also her wedding dress of 1927; and couture dresses by Patou, Worth, Hardie Amies, etc.
Ashburton Museum (39 min) 01364 652648
No visit to Ashburton would be complete without a visit to the Town's Museum. Originally started in a private house, it moved to the tower of St Lawrence Chapel and, when it outgrew that, in 1962, to the old blacksmith's shop behind the chapel (part of the old grammar school site). By 1968 it moved again to its present site in the centre of Ashburton (next door to Lloyds Bank) in a building which was once a brush factory.
It houses a unique collection, which, in addition to items of local interest, includes a large collection of North American Indian artefacts. Ashburton Museum is now a fully registered museum officially recognised by the Museums and Galleries Commission and is kept and run by the Hon Curator Mr H J Broughton
Salcombe Maritime Museum (45 min) 01548-842522
Museum. The exhibitions change annually to keep regular visitors coming back again and again. This museum will take you down memory lane to the days of the smugglers, ship builders and the fast fruit schooners of the 19th century. The children will love the hands-on displays; there are ship models, boatyard models, old photographs, paintings and shipwreck artefacts.
Finch Foundry (94 min) 01837 840046
A fascinating 19th-century water-powered forge, which produced agricultural and mining hand tools. Still in working order with regular demonstrations, the foundry has three waterwheels driving the huge tilt hammers and grindstone. Industrial heritage: 19th-century water-powered forge. The tiny village of Sticklepath in Devon would once have resounded with the sound of this 19th-century water-powered forge, which produced agricultural and mining hand tools. So bad was the vibration that the pub next door had to fit beading along its shelves to stop the glasses falling off. Opened in 1814, the foundry continued in use until 1960. Restoration work by the Trust means that it is still in working order however, and the three waterwheels that drive the huge tilt hammers and grindstone can still be seen in action.
Overbeck Museum & Garden (47 min) 01548 842893
Elegant Edwardian house with diverse collections and luxuriant garden. Weird and wonderful collections of scientist and inventor, Otto Overbeck. Lovely sub-tropical garden, an exotic haven. Spectacular views over sea and estuary. Lots for children to explore, with fun quiz and trail. Search for Fred, the friendly ghost
Cotehele Mill (94 min)
Restored working watermill and agricultural workshops, Flour produced is regularly available for sale and collections of local craftsmen's tools on display. Tucked away in dense woodland, the mill is a fine reminder of the recent past when corn was ground here for the local community. Flour is produced regularly and is available for sale. Nearby, a range of outbuildings containing a collection of blacksmiths', carpenters', wheelwrights' and saddlers' tools is presented as workshops, giving an insight into the working lives of local craftsmen.
Museum of Dartmoor Life (100 min) 01837 52295
Housed on three floors in a 19th century mill in the centre of Okehampton, the museum tells the story of how people have lived, worked and played on and around Dartmoor through the centuries. It shows how the moors have shaped their lives just as their work has shaped the moor land.
Dartmoor Prison Museum 01822 890261
Dartmoor Prison was originally built at Princetown in Devon between 1806 and 1809 to house French captives during the Napoleonic Wars. During the War of 1812 many American prisoners were also confined there. French and American officers were eligible for parole under a system which developed at this time.
Under the terms of this system, those of higher rank were able to live within the community, in designated 'parole towns'. Between 1812 and 1816 about 1,500 American and French prisoners died in Dartmoor prison and were buried in a field beyond the prison walls. The brutal mistreatment of American prisoners of war was investigated after the war by an Anglo-American commission, which awarded compensation to the families of those who had died there.
Please note: The information on this web site is intended as a guide only. We cannot accept responsibility for any inaccurate, misleading or incomplete information about any Business and its facilities or services.
