A team of creatives are busily creating a range of festive worlds within the tunnels beneath Charlestown’s Shipwreck Treasure Museum for this year’s edition of the attraction’s popular Tunnel of Lights event.
The subterranean passageways were created to transport the area’s clay to be loaded onto ships in the village’s historic harbour to be transported around the world. Today, the tunnels are being transformed once again into a Christmas wonderland for families to enjoy from Saturday 3rd December until Sunday 8th January.
The event boasts the UK’s longest indoor lit tunnel of Christmas lights, extending to more than 220 metres and using more than 4.5 miles of sparkling lights. A new addition for 2022 is a giant snow globe, complete with fluttering snow, that families can also book to capture that perfect festive photo inside.
Emily Henderson is an experienced Cornish artist, designer, and prop maker for film, tv and live events and is busily working with her team of Elves on creating the Tunnel of Lights experience with the Shipwreck Treasure Museum team.
Emily said: “It is great fun being involved with bringing such a popular event as the Tunnel of Lights to life. We’re creating a whole new immersive experience for families to enjoy which is designed to get everyone firmly into the Christmas mood.
“The museum’s tunnels, corridors and spaces offer a truly unique setting for us to get creative. The restraints of working in narrow places like the tunnels have been a great creative challenge.”
“As soon as visitors begin their Tunnel of Lights journey, they will discover a different festive scene around every corner. This year it’s a complete Christmas takeover of the museum and a real explosion of fun, complete with seasonal backdrops, sparkling lights and sounds to complete the experience.”
Timed-entry tickets are on sale, with some dates already close to selling out. Tickets must be booked in advance online by visiting shipwreckcharlestown.co.uk
The Shipwreck Treasure Museum, originally the Charlestown Shipwreck & Heritage Museum was set up in 1976 by early shipwreck divers and historians Richard & Bridget Larn overlooking the harbour which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project and Lost Gardens of Heligan purchased the Shipwreck Treasure Museum in 2016. From the age of 18, Sir Tim has been an avid archaeologist and wreck diver.
The museum is home to Europe’s largest private collection of shipwreck artefacts. The collection extends to more than 8000 items recovered from more than 150 shipwrecks; the earliest recoveries featured are from a Phoenician wreck that dates to around 500 BC.
