Witchcraft & folk magic · Museum
Museum of Witchcraft & Magic
Boscastle · Cornwall
More than 3,000 objects and 7,000 books explore British witchcraft, folk belief and magical practice inside one of Britain’s most distinctive specialist museums.
Photo: Bryn Holmes / Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
A museum where the mystery is already in the collection.
Tucked into Boscastle’s harbour, the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic documents centuries of witchcraft, folk belief, ritual and magical practice. Founded by Cecil Williamson and established in Boscastle in 1960, the museum has grown into a major specialist collection. Stories of cold spots and watchful presences have become part of modern visitor lore, but the building does not need to become a ghost story – the objects, beliefs and histories preserved inside are strange and fascinating enough.
Your visit at a glance
Visitor information verified 18 July 2026Ages 6–17 £5
Under-5s free
Magic, belief and the objects people left behind
Rather than presenting witchcraft as one neat tradition, the museum explores a much broader world of folk belief, ritual, magical practice and the people who used – or feared – the objects now preserved here.
Objects of belief
The museum’s collection contains thousands of objects connected with witchcraft, magic, folklore and ritual practice, preserving both everyday traditions and more unusual forms of belief.
The strength of the museum is its physical collection: this is a place to see the material culture behind stories that are often reduced to myth or stereotype.A specialist archive
Alongside the objects sits an extensive library focused on witchcraft, magic and related traditions, reflecting decades of specialist collecting and research.
The result feels less like a novelty attraction and more like a serious archive of beliefs that have shaped British culture for centuries.A museum with its own story
Cecil Williamson established the museum at Boscastle in 1960 after earlier incarnations of his collection elsewhere in Britain.
Its survival through changing attitudes – and the devastating Boscastle flood of 2004 – has become part of the museum’s history in its own right.From Cecil Williamson to modern Boscastle
Cecil Williamson opened his Folklore Centre of Superstition and Witchcraft in 1951. After several moves, the collection reached Boscastle in 1960, where it developed into the museum visitors know today.
The museum survived one of the most dramatic events in Boscastle’s recent history when severe flooding struck the village in 2004. The collection was recovered and the museum reopened.
Ownership of the museum and its collection passed to Simon Costin in 2013, and in 2015 it adopted its current name: the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic.
More than broomsticks and pointy hats
The museum is most interesting when it challenges the simplified image of witchcraft and instead explores the real beliefs, fears and traditions that existed behind it.
Folk protection
Magical belief was not always about casting spells. Protective objects, charms and rituals formed part of everyday attempts to guard people, homes and livelihoods from harm.
Folk magic
The collection explores magical traditions beyond the familiar witch-trial narrative, including practices connected with healing, divination, ritual and local custom.
Changing beliefs
Objects that once carried genuine religious, magical or protective meaning can look very different to modern eyes. The museum preserves that changing relationship between belief and interpretation.
Make the most of the museum
The museum sits in the heart of Boscastle rather than in a purpose-built visitor complex, so parking and public facilities are found elsewhere in the village. Allow around one to two hours inside, then leave some extra time to explore Boscastle itself.
A simple way to plan your visit
Arriving through the main village facilities keeps things easiest, particularly because there is no visitor parking directly at the museum.
Park in Boscastle
Use the main village parking rather than attempting to drive directly to the museum. The Cobweb car park is around a five-minute level walk away.
Explore the collection
Give yourself time to look beyond the headline objects. The museum covers a broad range of magical belief, folklore and historical practice rather than a single witchcraft story.
Explore Boscastle
The harbour village makes a natural extension to the visit, with food, public facilities and coastal or countryside walks available nearby.
Getting there
The museum is located at The Harbour in Boscastle. There is no visitor or disabled parking directly at the museum, although disabled drop-off is permitted.
Accessibility & facilities
The museum occupies a historic stone building with narrow doorways and upper floors. It is not fully wheelchair accessible, although limited areas may be accessible and disabled drop-off is available.
Keep exploring Cornwall’s stranger side
Boscastle is an easy starting point for a wider mysterious Cornwall trip. These two places carry the story from witchcraft history into wild-land folklore and legendary coastline.
Bodmin Moor
Explore a vast granite landscape of prehistoric remains, strange legends and enduring Beast of Bodmin reports.
Explore Bodmin Moor →Tintagel Castle
Follow the coast to dramatic ruins inseparable from the legends of King Arthur, Merlin and Cornwall’s mythic past.
Destination page coming soonStep inside Britain’s magical history
Check the latest seasonal opening information before travelling, then discover more strange, legendary and extraordinary places across Britain with ParaMaps.