Combe Martin Museum was set up in 1991 by members of the Combe Martin Historical Society. These local enthusiasts approached Combe Martin Parish Council with a view to renting one of their vacant properties, which had been until then, the old Rest Room situated above Newberry Beach. In later years they purchased the lease on the cafe below and turned the building into the Museum. More recently they are raising funds to relocate and hope to be successful in acquiring The Heritage Lottery Fund stage II grant which, together with grants from Devon Renaissance and North Devon District Council, will enable them to move to the old motorcycle museum premises in Cross Street, next to the TIC. 

In the early years the group sought and achieved Charitable status as well as becoming a fully registered Museum (Museums and Galleries Commission). Combe Martin Museum is organised and run entirely by volunteers. It is fortunate in having curatorial advice and assistance from the Museum of North Devon in Barnstaple. Village support for the enterprise has been unstinting and generous from the very beginning and many original volunteers still continue to help today. Combe Martin has a rich and unique history. The Museum’s brief sets out to interpret the past industries of silver and lead mining, smelting, lime quarrying and burning. Horticulture, particularly the production of early crops such as strawberries and potatoes, was a key feature of the area and continues today to some extent. Medieval ‘strip’ fields are still in evidence on south facing slopes. Agriculture, fishing and trading by sea were also important industries.  The social life of the village is also interpreted within the Museum. The annual ceremony, ‘The Hunting of the Earl of Rone’ involves music, dancing and a Hobby Horse.