A record of the social and maritime history of the Parish of Mortehoe. From the archaeological collection which includes examples of flints from the Mesolithic period and evidence of metal-working in the Iron Age, the collection proceeds through the history of the Domesday Manors to the 12C St Mary’s church . Photographs and exhibits chart the development of agriculture, the coming of the railway and the beginnings of tourism.<br>

Maritime History is reflected in many exhibits and include a large collection of rescue equipment used by Mortehoe coastguards; the history of Bull Point lighthouse and descriptions and exhibits relating to the many ships wrecked along the Parish coastline.

Coastguard Wagon: A rare example of a Rocket-Apparatus Wagon built by the Bristol Cart Company in the 1860s. The wagon - presently housed at Bull Point Lighthouse - can be viewed on Thursdays during July and August, and at other times by arrangement.<br>
The wagon was brought to Mortehoe from the Isle of Skye in 1997 and is identical to that used by the Mortehoe Coastguards in the 1930s. Pulled by two horses and a team of 20 men, the wagon often had to be manhandled to a suitable position at the cliff edge, and even down on to the rocks. It is believed to be one of only two such wagons still in existence and has been beautifully restored to its original state.

A life-size model of Eliza Yeo - neé Ashford (1840-1917). Eliza had eight brothers and sisters and was the second daughter of Samuel Ashford and his wife Mary, nee Watts. Eliza married John Yeo on 30th October 1854 at the age of fourteen and went on to have eleven children. In between producing her babies every one or two years, she turned her attention to the early tourist trade by obtaining a donkey and cart and ferrying tourists between Mortehoe and Woolacombe. In 1874 when the railway arrived in Mortehoe, Eliza began to take paying guests. Many members of Mortehoe’s oldest families (including the Gammons, Yeos, Ashfords and Watts) continue to live in the Parish and they are all related to one another through Eliza. Two of her descendents worked on the conversion of the Centre during 1995.

A cannon from HMS Weazle - a Man O’ War, which sank off Baggy Point on 12th January 1799 after being driven on to Morte Rocks in a severe gale. Only the Purser survived, 106 lives were lost including that of the only woman on board

Photo of the SS Newtown which struck rocks near Barricane Beach in 1916. All the crew were rescued by the Mortehoe Life-saving Apparatus.<br> One of many photographs either on display or held in the Heritage Centre Archive Collection

A wide collection of agricultural implements once used on local farms until the advent of mechanisation and modern farming methods. Many were made to order by the local blacksmith. <br> The 1851 Census returns record twenty farmers in Mortehoe, employing nearly 70 agricultural workers.