Saint Agnes Museum

St. Agnes has a mining past that shaped the whole of Cornwall, and this small museum does a decent job of telling that story. The collection focuses on the tin and copper mining era that dominated the area - you'll see old tools, photographs of the mines themselves, and artifacts that give you a genuine sense of what the work actually entailed. It's the kind of place where locals volunteer and you can tell they care about getting the details right.

The museum sits right in the village itself, which means you can easily combine a visit with a walk around St. Agnes proper. The village has a decent beach and some proper coastal paths if the weather's cooperating. Families with older kids will find it interesting, particularly if they've got any curiosity about industrial history. Younger children might lose interest quickly - there's only so much appeal in display cases of picks and shovels.

Allow an hour, maybe ninety minutes if you're the type who reads everything. Best to ring ahead for opening hours as they can be a bit variable with volunteer-run places. Since you're likely staying at one of the nearby parks like Perran View or Anchor Barrow, the museum makes for a worthwhile rainy-day activity that doesn't require a car journey. It's modest rather than spectacular, but it gives proper context to the landscape you'll see walking around the cliffs nearby.