Museum Restoration

Last updated 12 February 2026

Topsham Museum has been closed for more than a year because of substantial structural work to be undertaken by our landlord, Exeter City Council.

The Trustees have issued this update.

Progress is painfully slow on 25 Strand, but there is at least some good news.

The render work and painting on the Lower Shapter Street elevation should be complete by Easter, allowing the scaffolding on that part of the Museum and its roof to be removed. That will be a welcome relief to our long-suffering neighbours, to whom we extend our continued thanks.

A meeting between the Museum and Exeter City Council (ECC) to discuss the rest of the work on 25 Strand, scheduled for mid-February, was called off by ECC at short notice. This is disappointing, especially in light of recent positive discussions about the possibility of a Community Asset Transfer (CAT), allowing the Museum to manage the building in the long term.

We have asked ECC for information which would be vital to progressing the idea of a CAT, and await its response.

The Museum celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and Trustees and Volunteers are passionate about its reopening to mark the event.

We will provide more information when we know more, but in the meantime we thank the community and the public for their patience and support.

Do please check our website for updates on our future activities and progress on the building project.

The Museum, Tea Room and Garden, will be closed for several months to undergo extensive repair works. Work in late 2024 to replace the external render revealed substantial problems with the structure of the building. These pictures of two of the roof trusses and of a floor joist give some idea of the problems that have been discovered.

Museum President, Rachel Nichols, said: “We’re extremely grateful to the council for taking such care with the building, which is of huge historic interest. It was built in 1688 and left to the council in 1983 to hold in trust as a museum for the people of Topsham.

We normally have around 10,000 visitors a year and it’s a great pity that it will not be able to open as usual in April. However, we’re seeing this as a golden opportunity to take stock of our collections, refresh the Museum and reopen with an even better story of the town’s history, its maritime traditions and the importance of the Exe Estuary.”