About Us

The Museum of Policing in Devon & Cornwall is a registered charity in England and Wales, number 1168731. Our story is one of many twists and turns over 50+ years. What started out as the pursuit of a small number of police officers with a shared vision of preserving old police operational equipment and materials for posterity, is today one of the most complete historical police collections in the UK. 

The active collecting of police material began in the 1970s, fuelled by a series of police force mergers. At the time there was no formal force heritage policy, and dated equipment and material was largely being disposed of. The initiative of a handful of officers laid the foundations for the Museum which now holds over 10,000 items. The collection has been dated to as far back as 1790.

The collection comprises archives, photographs, artworks, uniforms and equipment, as well as an extensive library relating to criminology and law enforcement.

Our archive

The “2D” archive of papers, photographs, documents, charts, map, etc. is housed at the Devon Records Office just off junction 30 of the M5 at Exeter. The archive is in the care of partners Southwest Heritage Trust who manage access for the Museum. The archive is open to the public to explore by appointment. 

Southwest Heritage Trust may be reached here and the Museum of Policing catalogue explored here.

Our objects collection

The “3D” objects collection comprises thousands of individual items – uniforms, weapons, communications devices, vehicles, civil defence equipment, etc. The collection is housed at Okehampton Police Station, just on the edge of Dartmoor in central Devon. The collection is not open to the public, but you may add you name to a waiting list for future public events. 

Email your details to info@dcpolicingmuseum.co.uk to be added to the Museum’s mailing list and check our website regularly for details.

Our mini-Museum

A selection of Museum items is available to the public via our mini-Museum, which is open in the World Heritage town of Tavistock in central Devon. The min-Museum only opens occasionally from October to Easter, so check the website for details of seasonal dates and times.

The Museum represents a rapidly disappearing genre – a complete collection of a profession – and the organisational memory of a large, regional police force and the social history of the communities it served.