Visiting Kresen Kernow
We are open to visitors on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, from 9.30am to 4pm.
If you just want to enjoy the building, use the café, or browse the exhibitions and library, you can simply turn up, there’s no need to book. Research visitors do need to book for the archive and pre-order documents, and we suggest booking for the library if you would like to use specific equipment or resources, or you are not sure what you would like to look at and need some advice. Please see below for further details.
Redruth roadworks – there are currently roadworks and traffic lights in the West End area of Redruth that are due to last until May 2025. For further details, use this link to the Wales & West Utilities website.
See our What’s on page for further details of our events, exhibitions and activities and whether any booking is required for these.
Café
The Arch Café is open 9.30am to 3pm, serving drinks, cakes, brunch and delicious lunches (hot food between 10am and 2.30pm). The menu changes weekly, inspired by what’s in season and there are always vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options available. There is also usually a children’s menu too.
The café cooks everything to order, using fresh produce and beautiful presentation – on very busy days this can sometimes take a few moments longer, but it’s always worth the wait! You can email the café direct if you have any particular queries.
Because of the nature of our collections and the thousands of unique and irreplaceable items we look after, our café and building are not dog friendly (except for assistance dogs). The café does do takeaway items though, and we have a sheltered courtyard with benches on the car park side of the building and a popular dog walking area on the town side.
There are other chairs. tables and benches available around our reception area for anyone to use – the café tables and chairs are for café customers.
Facilities and access
The building is fully accessible and you can find out more about accessibility here, where you can also read, watch or download our various pre-visit guides. Toilets and accessible toilets are available onsite, including a Changing Places toilet on the ground floor. Wifi is available throughout the building, and you are welcome to bring and use your own devices such as tablets and laptops. To watch a short pre-visit film about Kresen Kernow and what we offer, see the Kresen Kernow YouTube channel. Assistance dogs are very welcome.
Research visitors and family history
For archive research visits, each day is divided into two sessions, 9.30am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-4pm. Appointments can be booked by emailing kresenkernow@cornwall.gov.uk or telephoning 01872 324333 (although please be aware that the phone may only be answered during our opening hours). If you are unable to make your booked session, please do let us know.
All archive material needs to be pre-ordered and orders must be received by 11am on the day before your visit. You can order up to twelve items per session and orders can be placed via email or over the phone. Most days we hope to be able to produce up to three extra items as well, but this depends on staff capacity and how busy we are. We will try our best but cannot guarantee it.
To view archives and rare books you will need to bring ID showing your name and current address, or a valid Kresen Kernow card. If you don’t already have a Kresen Kernow card (similar to a CARN archive reader ticket), you will need to register for one, with your ID, in the archive room. To protect our collections, we don’t allow food or drink into the archive and library spaces and we only use pencils in the archive. If you are not familiar with handling archive items, or you would like a refresher, do have a look at our short film about handling documents on the Kresen Kernow YouTube channel (there are always staff around to help too).
There are lockers where you can store any belongings, as well as places to leave wet coats and umbrellas. You can bring cameras, but please note there is a charge for using them for photographing books and documents (including phone cameras). You can view our on site charges here.
Family history research often starts in the library, where you can access records of baptisms, marriages and burials, and online births, marriages, deaths and census records. During busy times we also have a team of family history and computer buddy volunteers in the library to help you out, should you need some extra advice or guidance using our sources. They are usually onsite on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings (if you want to check that they will be onsite on the day you are coming, do call us first). We also host regular family history drop-in sessions with experts from Cornwall Family History Society, see our What’s on page for dates.
If you are interested in bringing a school or other group to Kresen Kernow, please visit our Learning pages for more information.
Families
We welcome families at Kresen Kernow and have a range of things for everyone to enjoy. We have a number of sensory explorer tools and a sensory marker trail available every day, along with interactive exhibitions, colouring and children’s books (and cushions) in the library and near reception. We have space for pushchairs and free lockers for coats and bags, also a baby change, a small quiet room, high chairs in the café and a friendly team. We hold regular free craft and activity sessions during the school holidays and on Redruth festival days, and often have family friendly performances and other events onsite. See our What’s on page for upcoming events.
Collections
If you would like to find out more about our collections, you can access our collections guides here, or search our catalogues using the large search bar above. There are helpful guides to family and property history, and other popular subjects, as well as links to online resources if you are unable to visit us.
If you are interested in depositing archive material with us, please do contact us first. You can find out more on our dedicated webpage.
Getting here and parking
Kresen Kernow is situated on the edge of Redruth, just off the A30 (what3words: spaces.dignify.locked). We have six accessible parking spaces and limited general parking, all free of charge. If we are busy, there are plenty of other car parks nearby. Please note, we lock the car park gates overnight.
Redruth roadworks – there are currently roadworks and traffic lights in the West End area of Redruth that are due to last until May 2025. For further details, use this link to the Wales & West Utilities website.
We strongly support using public transport where possible. We are a fifteen minute walk from Redruth railway station (with direct trains across Cornwall and to London Paddington), and a local bus stop is situated at Tesco Redruth, less than five minutes’ walk away. Several buses stop near Kresen Kernow, usually including Go Cornwall Bus numbers 34 and 49, and Hopley’s coach number 315, but we recommend checking current routes and timetables. Taxis also operate from outside the railway station.
A short walk along the stream on the town side of the building leads directly to the town centre where there are a number of shops and cafes. Please note, although there is signage in the town centre directing visitors to the building (including finger posts and town maps), we do recommend that walkers to or from the railway station check a map.
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