Museum gets £476k grant for revamp and digital lab

The Royal Cornwall Museum is set to receive more then £475,000 in funding

The first round of funding from the Truro Town Deal will go to the Royal Cornwall Museum (RCM), it has been annouced.

A grant of £476,000 will be used to transform the museum’s mineral gallery and include a state-of-the-art digital laboratory, those behind the museum have said.

The investment forms part of a three-year investment programme aiming to secure the museum's future and attract more visitors.

It comes one year after the RCM faced "imminent closure" having lost out on council funding in July 2022.

In October, Cornwall Council said it would invest £100,000 after all - in light of the museum's "unique situation".

Jonathan Morton, from the RCM, said the new grant was "crucial".

“This investment from Truro Town Deal into Royal Cornwall Museum is a crucial part of the overall vision of Truro as an attractive place to live, work and visit," he said.

The revamped minerals exhibition space on the ground floor of the museum, is expected to be completed by summer 2024.

Chair of Truro Town Deal board, Alan Stanhope, said: “Royal Cornwall Museum was selected as part of our Town Investment Plan for the role it plays in attracting new visitors and enhancing the breadth of the cultural offer in Truro.”

Louis Gardner, Cornwall Council cabinet portfolio holder for economy, said the main aim of the fund was to "revitalise the economy of the towns".

In April 2021, Truro secured a Town Deal of up to £23.6 million of government funding for regeneration projects.