Trinity House National Lighthouse Museum facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Trinity House National Lighthouse Museum |
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Former museum building in 2012
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| General information | |
| Location | Penzance, Cornwall, England |
| Coordinates | 50°6′57.6″N 5°31′51.6″W / 50.116000°N 5.531000°W |
The Trinity House National Lighthouse Centre was a special museum in Penzance, Cornwall, UK. It was home to a huge collection of items from Trinity House. Trinity House is an important organization that has built and looked after lighthouses for a very long time.
At the museum, visitors could explore many cool things. There were interactive displays about lighthouses. You could even see a recreated bedroom of a lighthouse keeper! The museum closed its doors in February 2005.
A Look Back: Museum History
The National Lighthouse Centre opened in 1989. It was created by Trinity House. This group is famous for building and taking care of lighthouses around England.
The museum building used to be a place where Trinity House stored and fixed buoys. Buoys are floating markers that help ships navigate safely. This building was part of the Penzance Depot.
Inside the museum, you could have an interactive experience. You learned what it was like to be a lighthouse keeper. The museum also showed off Trinity House's collection of lighthouse equipment. This included old lighthouse lenses and uniforms worn by keepers. You could even touch some of the items! There were also different buoys on display.
Visitors and Closure
From 1989 until it closed in 2005, about 10,000 people visited the museum each year. Many people wanted the museum to stay open. However, Trinity House decided to close it in February 2005.
They thought about opening a new museum in Plymouth, which is a busier city. But in 2009, Trinity House confirmed they would not move the museum to Plymouth. This meant the amazing collection of lighthouse items would not be on public display anymore. There was a chance some items might be shown at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth.
