Bodmin Keep welcomes visitors from Monday to Saturday, 10AM – 5PM (last entry 4pm).

We look forward to welcoming you to the museum!

Online Shop

We have some great gifts in our online museum shop! From books to children’s gifts and souvenirs.

It’s a great way of supporting the museum when you are unable to visit or need a gift for someone special. 

Learning Resources

We’ve added lots of content to our website to aid learning and inspiration from home – so do check out our Learning resources page to help with home learning.

 

The Keep News 

And don’t forget to keep in touch with us via social media and sign up to The Keep News for all the latest news. (Sign up is at the bottom of this page!) 

 

Online Tour!

You can explore our historic building via our online tour.

 

Collections to connect a generationDiscover and explore Bodmin Keep
Walk in the footsteps of ordinary heroes
A piece of the Berlin WallCollections from Waterloo to the Berlin Wall
  • Dog friendly attraction!
  • £7 annual adult pass

Plan your visit

Opening times: Monday to Saturday

10AM – 5PM (last entry 4PM).

 

Prior to my visit to see the Shrouds of the Somme at Exeter on Friday commemorating the 19,240 of UK soldiers who fell on the first day of The Somme, Ann and I together with Jinty (and yes it was dog friendly) visited Cornwall’s Regimental Museum at Bodmin today.
Time well spent and I was astonished at the amount of information and displays there. Many thanks to Hugo the resident volunteer historian for his valued help.

What's On

Make a Fabric Scrap Brooch
August 20, 2022 Adultbook a ticketFREEPre-Booked OnlyTresorys Kernow

Fabric Scrap Brooch Workshop

Saturday 20 August    Make a brooch using fabric scraps with St Ives based textile artist Jo. Sewing skills aren’t...

August 1, 2022 Family FriendlyMilitaryMulti generational

Army Outreach

1, 15 & 22 August   Find out about a career in the Army with their Outreach team!  Try virtual...

Morse Code Workshops
August 3, 2022 Family FriendlyMulti generational

Spy School – Morse Code Sessions

3, 10, 17, 24 August Try some morse code challenges with Kelvin from Footsteps of Discovery who is a licensed...

More events

Blog

Plastic Free Pledge
August 10th, 2022

Bodmin Keep is a Plastic Free Ally

Bodmin Keep, has been standing proudly near the centre of town for over 160 years. Built in 1859, the original...

DCLI Bell
August 3rd, 2022

The DCLI Bell of the 8th Battalion

At the top of the first set of stone stairs on the first floor of Bodmin Keep is a large...

A light attic room with old pictures, portraits and photographs of various sizes, shapes and colours hanging from floor to ceiling
August 3rd, 2022

Opening Up The Keep

Heritage Open Day On Saturday 10 September we will be hosting special guided tours of the museum’s attic stores, which...

Dunkirk Flag
July 25th, 2022

The Dunkirk Flag

During the 26th May to the 4th June in 1940 the evacuation of Dunkirk took place, where members of Cornwall’s...

Competition
July 25th, 2022

WIN a Sewing Machine Competition!

To celebrate the launch of ‘Suited & Booted’, a brand new exhibition at Bodmin Keep, we have launched a fantastic...

Military Coin
July 18th, 2022

An Occupying Forces Military Currency

This is a rare example of military currency paid out to German soldiers during the First World war. Unlike the...

Recruiting leaflet
July 18th, 2022

Recruiting Leaflet (August 1914)

This eye-catching leaflet, appealing for Cornishmen to join the Duke Of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, hangs as part of the First...

Italian campaign Medal
July 18th, 2022

The D Day Dodgers Commemorative Medal

The fighting around Monte Cassino was some of the bloodiest of the Second World War. Soldiers from Britain and the...

Second Pattern Shako – Officers 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment
July 18th, 2022

The Waterloo Shako

First Pattern Shako 1801-1812 In 1801 non-commissioned Officers and Privates stopped wearing the tricorn cocked hat which has been in...

Guard Room
July 18th, 2022

Guard Room Coffee Stop!

We have converted our Guard Room into a ‘coffee stop’. We have delicious coffee and tea, self-served from the Cornish...

Summer Programme
July 6th, 2022

Summer Events at Bodmin Keep

Spy School! Bodmin Keep is one of Cornwall’s most prestigious buildings, standing proudly at the gateway of town for over...

Suited and Booted
July 5th, 2022

New Exhibition Suited & Booted

‘Suited and Booted’ tells a history of the design and wear of military uniform with examples from the early 1800s...

Bodmin Keep, Summer School for Spies, Summer Holidays, Cornwall, Cornwall's Regimental Museum, Bodmin Keep
June 21st, 2022

Bodmin Keep is a Spy School for Summer!

Bodmin Keep is one of Cornwall’s most prestigious buildings. In the First World War it was an enlistment centre for...

Two girls learning about Children at War at Bodmin Keep
June 21st, 2022

We’re hiring! Bodmin Keep is recruiting a new Learning Manager

Bodmin Keep – Cornwall’s Army Museum is seeking a Learning Manager to develop and deliver its education programme of sessions...

Family History Day
June 15th, 2022

Family History Day

Come along to the South East Cornwall Museums Forum, ‘Grand Family History & Local History Day’ ! 10am-3pm, Liskeard Public...

June 6th, 2022

Bodmin Keep has a new Director

Helen Bishop-Stephens joins the team at Bodmin Keep as their new Director. Helen will steer the museum through the next...

Bicorn Cocked Hat
May 19th, 2022

An Officers Beaver Fur Bicorn hat

Today’s object of focus is a bicorn, also known as a cocked hat. These two cornered hats, hence the name...

Tresorys Kernow
May 17th, 2022

A Treasure Trove of Cornish Talent!

Tresorys Kernow – FREE events at Bodmin Keep Learn to Make a Silver Ring Metalsmithing Workshops For Beginners – Age...

Cornish Treasures
May 16th, 2022

Cornish Treasure!

There’s a wealth of treasures to be discovered in our Cornish towns. A project to breathe new life into Cornish...

Volunteers Needed
May 10th, 2022

Your Museum Needs You!

Volunteers Needed Be part of Bodmin’s heritage and join the friendly team at the Keep. We are a museum in...

May 9th, 2022

The Master Military Tailor

This week I’m delving into a book of clothing pattern drafts compiled by Brigadier W R Richards from the Royal...

Summer Half Term Promo
May 3rd, 2022

Bushcraft to Beauty – Workshops and Crafts at Bodmin Keep!

SUMMER HALF TERM: Tuesday 31 May – Saturday 4June This Summer half term, we have lots of FREE fun activities...

prosthetic arm and attachments
April 25th, 2022

Mending War Torn Limbs

The high levels of injury caused to arms and legs, from shells, bullets, and frost bite during the First World...

Hard Tack Biscuit Frame
April 25th, 2022

Playing with food

This is a hard tack biscuit from World War one which has been fashioned into a photo frame. Similar hard...

Ceylon Egg Cup
April 25th, 2022

The Egg Cup Carved in Ceylon from an African Tree

The Boer War The Boer War dates from 1899 – 1902 and was fought between the British Empire and two independent Boer states, the South...

Stable Belt - Serjeant Grenfell
April 12th, 2022

Serjeant Grenfell’s Embroidered Stable Belt

A stable belt is a striped coloured belt made of webbing, worn by the armed forces.  Every regiment and corps of the British...

March 21st, 2022

Eyes Everywhere! – The Cornish Home Guard

During the Second World War and only 4 days after Churchill had become Prime Minister, his war secretary Anthony Eden...

Copeland Plate
March 18th, 2022

Copeland Hot Water Plates

Dating back to the early 1840s, these plates were made for the 32nd Regiment of Foot to take to India...

George Ellis Competition eating Bananas
March 16th, 2022

George Ellis Photography Competition

During the February Half Term we held a competition for visitors to re-create a war time photograph from the George...

Easter activities at Bodmin Keep
March 15th, 2022

Easter Family Fun at Bodmin Keep

This Easter, we have lots of fun activities on offer for all the family.  They are all included at no...

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