The Set Sail Trail

Learn all about the ways that china clay has been exported around the world via the sea. Find all the stops on the family trail and complete the quiz!

Time: 10.00am to 4.00pm each day

Price: Included in standard museum admission

Contact: [email protected]

Location: Wheal Martyn grounds

Latest

Salt crystals inspire new ceramic exhibition captured in clay from the Wheal Martyn pit

This fascinating new exhibition of crystalline salt structures will draw a parallel between the harvesting of salt and the mining of china clay.
Sea-riously fun activities

A range of activities inspired by the sea and clay shipping. Create a clay mermaid, decorate a picture frame with sea glass or sculpt your own ship. Until Monday 2 September.
The Set Sail Trail

Learn all about the ways that china clay has been exported around the world via the sea. Find all the stops on the family trail and complete the quiz! Until Monday 2 September.
Lowender gans kernewek

A monthly opportunity for Cornish speakers of all abilities to learn some new phrases or have fluent conversations in the Wheal Martyn cafe.

Sea-riously fun activities

A range of activities inspired by the sea and clay shipping. Create a clay mermaid, decorate a picture frame with sea glass or sculpt your own ship. Until Monday 2 September.
Lowender gans kernewek

A monthly opportunity for Cornish speakers of all abilities to learn some new phrases or have fluent conversations in the Wheal Martyn cafe.
Lowender gans kernewek

A monthly opportunity for Cornish speakers of all abilities to learn some new phrases or have fluent conversations in the Wheal Martyn cafe.
Climate Cafe

A welcoming space to come together, discuss our climate concerns and leave feeling energised!
Memory Cafe

Our regular Memory Cafe offers a place to chat over a cuppa and take part in creative activities.
Memory Cafe

Our regular Memory Cafe offers a place to chat over a cuppa and take part in creative activities.
Memory Cafe

Our regular Memory Cafe offers a place to chat over a cuppa and take part in creative activities.
Memory Cafe

Our regular Memory Cafe offers a place to chat over a cuppa and take part in creative activities.
Stitches

Anyone who likes to craft is welcome to join Wheal Martyn Stitches group which meets in our café on the first and third Friday of every month.
Stitches

Anyone who likes to craft is welcome to join Wheal Martyn Stitches group which meets in our café on the first and third Friday of every month.

Prices

Pay once and get free entry all year!
Our museum

China clay mining has shaped the landscape, lives of people and economy of mid-Cornwall for over 250 years. It is Cornwall’s largest mining industry. A fully Accredited Museum, we are based within two Victorian china clay works, now a Scheduled Ancient Monument. We tell the story of this fascinating industry and the people who worked and lived in the shadows of Cornwall’s iconic ‘white pyramids’.
Why visit

Dig deep and discover the special ingredient in your everyday life that still shapes Cornwall and the world today…china clay! It hides in your toothpaste, your paper, your car tyres and even your cosmetics. It’s a billion pound, global industry. We are telling the story of Cornwall’s secret, and the people who brought it to you, from the heart of Clay Country.
Buy an admission ticket

Buy your Wheal Martyn ticket online today. A full price ticket gives you free return visits for a whole year!
Kurt Jackson: Clay Country

17 May - 5 September 2021
Join the team

See the roles we are seeking at Wheal Martyn, including volunteering opportunities.
Cafe

Open from 10am - 4pm, free to enter.
Gift shop

Our gift shop is open 7 days a week, 10am - 4pm. Free to enter.
Opening times

Wheal Martyn is open 10am until 5pm daily.
Find us

St Austell. Cornwall, PL26 8XG