OLD GUILDHALL MUSEUM & GAOL

Thank you to all of our lovely visitors who came along in 2024. ​ We will be back from Easter 2025, opening Monday to Friday, 11am to 4pm (last admissions 3.40pm) We will be closed Saturdays and Sundays.

The Raddy Collection images are now available to browse and buy on-line... Chose from 100s of images in various formats. Opening times during the Season: Monday to Friday 11.00 - 16.00 Closed all day Saturday & Sunday East Looe Town Trust 01503 263709 There is disabled access into our museum via the back door using a ramp.

Please go round to the back door using the passageway to the right of the main entrance. There is a doorbell on the back door of the museum, and if you ring this, one of the volunteers will come down and try to help you.

If you need help please ring East Looe Town Trust as above. Remember that some of our volunteers are elderly and they might need to ring our maintenance team for help with the ramp as it is heavy.

They will inform you that this is what is happening and please be patient. There is a film guide on our downstairs television which shows you the upstairs of the museum with a spoken commentary.

Everyone is welcome to our museum and we make every effort to make access possible. We are all volunteers in the museum and occasionally the museum has to be closed due to illness and volunteers not being available.

Also… Our most frequent comment from our visitors is ' best money I've ever spent. Fantastic value! Come and visit us! We have a Children's Activity area with quizzes and a wordsearch and lots of colouring in and stickers.

We have new exhibitions this year about the Boat and ship building in Looe over the years, and the story of Thomas Bond, whose important book, Topographical and historical sketches of the the boroughs of East and West Looe was written two hundred years ago.

We really look forward to welcoming our children and adults using our dressing up clothes to act out our plays, taken from real court cases that happened at our Magistrate's Court.

We are really looking forward to welcoming our visitors this year and telling you the many stories of Looe. The Museum Volunteers The Old Guildhall Museum and Gaol is contained in a 15th Century listed building with a fascinating display of Looe’s past. ​ This includes Fishing & Boat Building Smuggling Looe Island The Looe Valley Railway Line Tourism World War II Court room regalia With exhibits from many eras, there’s no shortage of things to look at.

Our building, built in 1450 is our greatest artefact, and as you enter look up at the pillories at the top of our entrance and the beams as you enter the building.

Look out for our immersive smuggling cabinet, the Court and Gaol with the stories of Court cases from the past which you can act out at the Magistrates Court, Regalia, stories of WWI and WWII, a display of the Canal and Railway in Looe, RNLI artefacts and Raddy photos and cameras, as well as the stories of the Edwardians in Looe and much more besides, including a large archive of old photographs.

The museum is spread over two floors and you enter into the upper floor of the building, which from 1587 to 1878, was the East Looe Town Hall and Magistrates Court.

Beneath the magnificent timber-framed roof, laws were made and enforced, and the town was administered by the Mayor and Corporation, known as Burgesses.

Downstairs, you will find the two cells used to hold the criminals of Looe in the past. This really was a case of 'send them down' from the court above.

Go into the one that is open and see what a small space it was for the prisoners. There was no exercise yard for them so it was not a pleasant experience!

Our most frequent comment from our visitors is ' best money I've ever spent. Fantastic value!

Come and visit us! 'How many museums are there like this? The range of artefacts and 'props' is amazing for such a small building. Virtually the whole historic period is covered and with special emphasis on the History of Looe.

Just as importantly, the staff (who are all volunteers) are superb. You can easily while away one or more hours. 'I know it is a museum but I really felt I was going back in time.

Not like a modern museum but more like you are close to the real Looe of old. So many interesting stories of Looe's Past. Thank you.' 'This stone-built building in the centre of Looe has at various times been the local gaol, the Magistrates Court and the town’s Guildhall; now, it is the Town Museum and a good one it is as well.

The entrance is guarded by a cannon and once inside, you realise what a treasure-trove of objects and exhibits are on show. You enter up a flight of exterior steps directly into what used to be the offices of the East Looe Town Hall and the Magistrates Court, this being on the upper floor. 'Such wonderful guides full of passion and knowledge