The Mortehoe Heritage Museum is a small community treasure run entirely by volunteers and housed in the village car park building, a description that sells it considerably short. Free to enter and open seasonally, it covers the local history of shipwrecks, smuggling, lighthouse keeping, farming, and village life with a warmth and attention to detail that many larger museums would envy.
The shipwreck collection is particularly compelling. Morte Point and the Morte Stone just offshore have claimed dozens of vessels over the centuries, and the museum documents many of them with photographs, salvage, and contemporary accounts. The lighthouse section covers the history of Bull Point Lighthouse, and the display on local smuggling routes is the kind of social history that brings a place to life.
The museum is run by the Mortehoe Heritage Trust, a group of local volunteers who clearly care deeply about preserving and communicating the history of this small but historically rich village. The level of knowledge on display, and available from the volunteers when the museum is open, is genuinely impressive.
The museum is right in Mortehoe village, a short walk from the Morte Point path and less than two miles from Woolacombe. Open in the summer season; check local notices for specific days and hours. Free entry. A lovely addition to a walk to Morte Point.
The museum also holds a small but interesting collection of local photographs documenting the village’s life across the 20th century, from farming and fishing to the early tourism that began to shape the area from the late Victorian period. These photographs give a particular intimacy to the collection, connecting the landscape you walk through today with the lives of the people who shaped it. Volunteer staff are generous with their time and knowledge, and a conversation with them about the local history of Mortehoe and Morte Point is often the most memorable part of a visit.
