We will be unveiling the weird and the wonderful, in a display of inspiring and unusual objects and paintings from our rarely seen stored collection.

From blueprints to detonators, tools to engineering patterns, this exhibition showcases unusual and thought-provoking stories from Cornwall’s past.

‘Wheal Martyn Unseen – The Weird and Wonderful’ will be on display in the Roger Preston Gallery from Friday 18 October. It features objects that have been recently accepted by the museum alongside artefacts that have been unseen for many years. One of the most fascinating pieces on display is Cornish Poet Jack Clemo’s braille pocket watch.

Born in 1916, Jack Clemo was a blind and deaf poet and author who lived most of his life in Nanpean. Clemo’s poetry focussed on the clayscape and lives of those who lived within it and he even wrote two poems about Wheal Martyn in 1992 before his death in 1994. During his lifetime Clemo was invited to become a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedh, taking the name of ‘Prydyth an Pry’, translated as ‘Poet of the Clay’.

We care for nearly 10,000 accessioned objects ranging from geological specimens to archived material and mining equipment to photographs. This collection proudly represents areas of life within mid-Cornwall from the china clay industry itself to the community of people living in ‘the clays’.

Many of the objects on display were donated as gifts to the museum including industry equipment, plans and tools, all representing important parts of Cornish history.

Sian Powell, Exhibition and Engagement Officer, said: “We are thrilled to display some of these brilliant things! Wheal Martyn Unseen has been a real team effort to put together. It contains many objects chosen by our volunteers, who have also been instrumental in their display. My favourite objects are the knitted clay workers, I think they’re so lovely and I can’t wait for visitors to see some of the other surprising things we’ve uncovered from the stores!”

The exhibition will be on display in the Roger Preston Gallery at Wheal Martyn from Friday 18 October until Monday 23 December.

Entry is included in the general admission fee which is valid for 12 months.