Bude Castle Heritage Centre

Formerly the home of Victorian inventor Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, The Castle is now a heritage centre with exhibition galleries, an archive with research facilities, an education room, shop and a restaurant with breathtaking views to the breakwater and Chapel Rock and over Summerleaze Beach to the sea beyond...

The exhibitions on the ground floor focus on Bude and the surrounding area: its rich and varied geology and natural history, and the town's development as a port, later as a seaside resort and most recently as a surfing centre.

Over one hundred shipwrecks are recorded on the north coast of Cornwall between 1756 and 1969. Try the navigation interactive and see if you can steer your way through these treacherous waters

The exhibitions continue on the first floor where you can find out about Sir Goldsworthy Gurney - Cornwall's 'Forgotten Genius' - and his many inventions. As well as his pioneering building, The Castle, which he constructed on sand he invented the world's first mechanised vehicle to travel over distance at sustained speed. He discovered limelight, used in theatres and music halls and developed the Bude Light which lit Trafalgar Square and the Houses Of Parliament

Visitors can model themselves against the Cornish Giant, Anthony Payne of Stratton - a Royalist hero in the English Civil War.

If you would like to find out more about Bude and its Castle why not make an appointment to visit the archives and research library.

The archive office welcomes donations of artefacts, documents and photographs relating to all aspects of life in the Bude – Stratton area.

Restaurant
The Castle Restaurant is now open Tel 01288 350543

Open every day 10am - 2pm (Sundays until 3pm) and every evening except Sunday

Shop
The Castle Shop has a wide range of gifts, souvenirs and books - particularly local history books