About

Adventure!  Endurance! Extraordinary Seamanship! Survival against the odds.

Cook’s voyages were the 18th century equivalent of today’s missions to Mars.  For ten years Cook and his crews explored the unknown, uncharted waters of the Pacific, the South Atlantic, and the Arctic Oceans.  Danger was ever present.

The House on the harbour   The Museum is in the 17th century house where the master mariner and Quaker, Captain John Walker lodged his young apprentice James Cook during the winter when not at sea.  This is where it all began.  What did Cook owe to Whitby and John Walker?

The thought-provoking collection of original paintings and drawings, letters in Cook’s own hand, ship models, maps and fascinating objects gathered on the voyages illustrate the Cook story.

Open daily - FEB HALF TERM TO 6TH NOVEMBER 2023 

Open Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays rest of  November
Last admission half an hour before closing.
​​​​These arrangements were correct at the time of writing. If in doubt please check dates and times on our website

New special exhibition every year. For 2023 'Ice! Exploring the Far South'. We should think of Captain Cook as a polar explorer! 250 years ago, with two ships, Resolution and Adventure, Cook crossed the Antarctic Circle for the first time ever. The exhibition gives a sense of the extraordinary conditions confronting the small Whitby-built ships, and the work carried out – on ice, the temperature, the formation of icebergs, the varied Antarctic phenomena as well as birds and mammals seen

We are maintaining anti-Covid measures, screens and extra cleaning. Face coverings are now a personal choice. We are encouraging visitors and staff to continue to use hand sanitiser and to keep to prudent social distance.