This month, we take a look at the Time & Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth, UK, owned and operated by Norfolk Museums Service.
Time and Tide tells the story of Great Yarmouth, a fishing town, from its prehistoric origins to the present day. This hidden gem is hidden away in the back streets, unknowingly a stone’s throw away from the promenade.
The museum details the East Coast town’s rich maritime and fishing heritage, and its growth as the most popular seaside resort on the Norfolk coastline.
The aforementioned back streets form a key part of the museum’s narrative. The Rows form the terraced streets surrounding the museum, and a recreation of the area, dated 1913, can be found here, with businesses and residences densely compacted, telling stories of notable residents.
Sights and smells
You’ll be easily forgiven for noticing the fragrance of fish around the museum – for that is on purpose. Time and Tide was developed in one of Britain’s best-preserved Victorian herring curing works, originally built in 1850.
The works closed in 1988, and it was only a year later that discussions first started about converting the site into a heritage museum. It was purchased in 1998, and £4.7 million was spent on converting the museum and installing the displays, before opening in 2004.
Areas of the museum highlight their previous uses, including the Smokehouses, which can be viewed from both ground level and higher up. The Cooper’s Workshop now forms part of the entrance and gift shop, and the Salt store is home to an OSEL Mantis submersible, one of the more modern exhibits highlighting the progression of offshore navigation.
The canopied courtyard is the ideal location for a historic boat collection, further emphasising the maritime roots of the museum.
Beside the seaside
Great Yarmouth’s day tripper background is also celebrated, including its passenger railway, piers, theatres and historic Gt. Yarmouth Pleasure Beach. There is also a notable section on one of the town’s first and lesser-known museums.
Opening its doors in 1778, Museum Boulerianum was situated in the town’s Market Place, and was a ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’, filling every available space with an eclectic collection of objects such as antiquities, fossils, and taxidermy, some of which are believed to have been purchased from Captain Cook.
A representative collection pays homage to this early iteration of a Yarmouth Museum, which also had a spiritual successor in the form of a short-lived Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium, located in the town’s seafront Windmill Theatre in the 1990s.
Looking at mechanics
Time & Tide also hosts seasonal displays not solely focused on Great Yarmouth.
Cabaret Mechanical Marvels features hands-on mechanical exhibits and original artefacts, showcasing exhibits from some of the finest contemporary automata makers, including the late Ron Fuller, a well-known toymaker and artist who lived and worked in Suffolk.
Some of the best-known British automata works are on display here, including Lion Tamer by Fuller and The Barecats designed by Paul Spooner and made by Matthew Smith.
The Cabaret Mechanical Theatre have been sharing its artworks publicly for well over two decades, including a stint at the historic Kursaal on Southend-on-Sea’s Eastern Esplanade in 2000. The latest adaptation brings the setting up to date, with new interactive elements making the exhibition easily accessible to visitors of all ages.
Coming soon
The Time and Tide is already gearing up for its next IP-led feature, Miffy’s 70th Birthday, which has just concluded its run at Leeds City Museum, in partnership with Mercis. This interactive exhibition will bring Miffy to life through creative displays and activities, which offer an immersive and playful experience to enjoy. Various Miffy artworks will be on display, plus additional artwork from creator and illustrator Dick Bruna.
Tickets for temporary exhibitions are included in the entry fee for the museum, with Miffy’s 70th Birthday on display from Saturday 11 October 2025 to Sunday 1 March 2026.
For more details, visit the Norfolk Museums website.
