Museums & Galleries · Exmouth
The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum
📍 EX4 4SB
Photo: Ridiculopathy (CC0), via Wikimedia Commons
- Collection of over 95,000 cinema and moving image items
- Over 1,000 items displayed across the galleries
- Lower Gallery covers pre-cinema visual culture up to 1910
- Upper Gallery celebrates cinema from 1910 to the present
- Bill Douglas and Peter Jewell Collection of over 50,000 items
The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum is a free public museum and academic research facility holding one of Britain's largest collections on cinema and moving image history, built around the Bill Douglas and Peter Jewell Collection of over 50,000 items. Across two galleries you'll see over 1,000 objects, from pre-cinema optical devices to star memorabilia and Hollywood artefacts, with the Lower Gallery tracing visual culture up to 1910 and the Upper Gallery covering cinema from 1910 onwards. It suits film enthusiasts, students and researchers alike, with study facilities bookable by appointment on weekdays. Galleries are open daily except between Christmas and New Year. Located in Exeter, Devon, with Exeter Central station just 0.5 miles away, it sits among 42 bookable places to stay within 5 miles on BritStays, making it an easy addition to a short break in the city.
Practical details
- Open
- Galleries open 10am to 5pm every day, except between Christmas and New Year
- Booking
- Study facilities open by appointment, booked online in advance
- Best for
- Film fans, researchers and students of moving image history
From the attraction's own website on 6 Oct 2026 — check before you travel.
Facilities
- ✓ Disabled Access
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Make a proper break of it — these stays are all within 25 miles.
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🗓️ Make a break of it
Turn a visit to The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum into a proper getaway — ready-made plans, and the drive worked out with fuel, EV charging and the best stops.
🚆 Or come by train
- Exeter Central 0.5 miles
- Exeter St Davids 0.5 miles
- St James' Park 0.5 miles
Straight-line distances · live departures on each station page