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Penlee House Gallery & Museum

Penlee House Gallery & Museum

Penlee House Gallery & Museum
4.5
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Penlee House Gallery & Museum is the only Cornish venue specialising in the Newlyn School and early St Ives artists (c.1880 - c.1940). This popular museum and art gallery is set in a building that was originally a Victorian family home, surrounded by a delightful sub-tropical park formed from the original garden. Changing exhibitions throughout the year celebrate the rich artistic heritage of West Cornwall.Winner of the South West Tourism Excellence Awards 2011-12 and of the Cornwall Tourism Awards 2009, 2010 and 2011 as Small Visitor Attraction of the Year. Open Monday to Saturday (Closed Sundays) throughout the year, including most Bank Holidays (closed Christmas and New Year), opening hours are 10am - 5pm during the summer (Easter to September) and 10.30 to 4.30 in the winter, with last admission half an hour before closing.
Duration: < 1 hour
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  • 330claret
    Essex, United Kingdom35 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great exhibition of Cornish art.
    We really enjoyed our visit, there is a great exhibition of Cornish art on at the moment,and the gallery of Newlyn artists is wonderful. We also spent time in the museum, shop and cafe where we had some delicious and freshly prepared lunch. There is easy parking nearby (ÂŁ2.50 all day) and you are right in the middle of Penzance for the rest of your day. We will be back next year.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 23 October 2023
  • Linda D
    Camborne, United Kingdom160 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Good place to go on a dull day
    Went along to view the art collection of my old English teacher. Sorry Mr. B your taste in art is not mine. Never mind the rest of the exhibitions were suburb. Also a wonderful array of artefacts in the museum section. We are lucky to have such a place nearby. Recommended for young and old alike. A great deal can be learnt here.
    Visited November 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 20 November 2023
  • SJDevon
    Ashburton, United Kingdom488 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Not so great
    My friend and I have visited several times and thoroughly enjoyed each visit. However, their current exhibition of paintings by Martina Thomas did not gel with us. I realise that art is a very personal choice but we did struggle with her paintings! On its own that made the visit not really worth the entry fee for us on the day we went. We did have a very nice cup of coffee and a cheese scone in the restaurant. Sadly, they have also greatly reduced the stock of the fascinating art books they used to have and there are now virtually none in the shop. Just not so great but always nice to see the Newlyn artist paintings .
    Visited March 2024
    Travelled with friends
    Written 15 March 2024
  • Colleen M
    Alexandria, Louisiana27 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    A pleasant afternoon, spent at art gallery
    Beautiful home garden and cafe. My only complaint is that I think it would be more interesting to learn about the owner and his family that lived here. After asking a volunteer; found out Mr Branwell was quite the entrepreneur, owned several businesses including a mill. There is a Brontë sisters connection as in Charlotte and Emily . I think American visitors would be interested in that
    Visited August 2024
    Travelled with friends
    Written 17 August 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles692 reviews
Excellent
480
Very good
178
Average
22
Poor
6
Terrible
6

DrecklyM
24 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020 • Solo
I love to visit this small gallery when in Penzance. It is set in a beautiful and tranquil park with cafe serving home made cakes and light lunches.

With regular exhibition changes downstairs.
Upstairs has a museum of bygone Penzance, geological finds and the favourite for me, part of their Newly School collection.

A relaxing walk through this stunning gallery is time away from the hustle and bustle of town life.
Written 8 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

SjShap82
Exeter, UK22 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2021
The Dame Laura Knight exhibition is a must see. Having seen some of her paintings before, I was surprised at how little I knew. It was brilliant to see artwork from throughout Dame Laura Knight's life in one exhibition. It really highlighted how much she achieved, and how brilliant she was. There were even posters I recognised, but hadn't realised were Knight's.
The covid booking system, and set up works as well as it can, bearing in mind the building. We felt safe throughout the galleries, and just got a bit crowded around the loos, and shop.
Penlee House is a lovely little museum we return to time and again. There is always something new to see and learn, and we are never disappointed. Thank you once again for curating another brilliant exhibition!
Written 26 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Robin A
12 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2020
Our visit to the Penlee Gallery, set in delightful gardens, was probably the highlight of our visit to Penzance. The paintings of the Newlyn School give a wonderful picture of life in this part of the world in the late 19th and early 20th century. Lots of other interesting things in the Museum too.
Written 13 September 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Robin A Thank you very much for your review, we are very pleased to hear that you had an enjoyable visit.
Written 15 September 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

RichardBBath
Corston, UK25 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2020
An excellent local collection, with a very good current exhibition of interiors by artists from the "Newlyn School", including some real conversation starters. The museum collection is also very good and puts a number of the local historical sites and towns into context. Well worth a visit.
Written 2 September 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

J M
Cardiff, UK40 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2022
Whenever I'm in the area I like to visit the Penlee as I love the English Realism paintings of the Newlyn and Lamorna school they display. This exhibition Jewels in the Crown did not disappoint. I wandered upstairs to Gallery 5 that was showing a photographic exhibition that was just as interesting. However there was one minus point. Considering I am 60 and not 16 I was sat quietly in the gallery and just sent a quick text message to a friend to say where I was and one of the volunteer warders walked up to me and said 'Could you please do that outside'. I wasn't making a loud telephone call and I later checked with a paid member of staff to see if there was a policy of no texting in the galleries. There isn't. I wouldn't think it was their policy to make their visitors embarrassed either but this lady volunteer did and I felt it was uncalled for. If it wasn't for this a 5 star review would have been given as on the whole its a great place to visit.
Written 5 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

RayK
Poole, UK124 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2022
This is a friendly gallery with lots of the wonderful Newlyn and Lamorna school paintings. If you like the style (Victorian, large canvasses, rural and sea scenes, often sentimental,always great!) then do visit. We go every time we visit Cornwall and fins something new to view each time. Staff and volunteers are very friendly and helpful and it's also a reasonable price
Written 6 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

330claret
Essex, UK35 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2023 • Family
We really enjoyed our visit, there is a great exhibition of Cornish art on at the moment,and the gallery of Newlyn artists is wonderful. We also spent time in the museum, shop and cafe where we had some delicious and freshly prepared lunch. There is easy parking nearby (ÂŁ2.50 all day) and you are right in the middle of Penzance for the rest of your day. We will be back next year.
Written 23 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Marnie1770
Cape Town6 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2022
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the gallery, to view works by Walter Langley. How he used light, had an eye for people and was able to paint details of their lives, is truly impressive. A browse of the giftshop and a coffee outside are a nice way to end the visit.
Written 24 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jeizza
London, UK162 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2021 • Solo
Exceptional Laura Knight exhibition - brilliant portraits and fascinating to see Cornish places as they were 100 years ago. Beautiful memorial stained glass window.
Visitor admittance into galleries was appropriately gapped for social distancing … maybe more ventilation could have been created through keeping doors open…
Good range of art merchandise in the small shop area; no parking onsite (excl. disabled) however pay and display is 5 minutes walk away.
Written 22 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

shapwicktwo
Wimborne Minster, UK22 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
although the museum is small the art collection is well worth a look. The photography exhibition was entertaining".work and play" over the last 100 years..we took the small talk that went with it and it was informative.The homity pie that we enjoyed for our lunch finished off a lovely morning.Toilets clean and accessible.Staff friendly.
Written 2 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you very much for your lovely review
Written 4 March 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

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PENLEE HOUSE GALLERY & MUSEUM (2025) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

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