Gem Rock Museum Reviews Summary

Collection & Exhibits

Pros:

• "A brilliant collection, so much more than we expected."
• "A fantastic display of gemstones, mineral rocks and cut stones."
• "A wonderful collection of fossils, gems and minerals."
• "There are so many absolutely stunning displays of fossils, rock gems and crystals with supporting detailed information."
• "The museum has lots of beautiful examples of minerals and gems."
• "An amazing display of natural gemstones minerals and specimens."
• "The museum has a wonderful display of different ranges of rock type including semi-precious and precious stones and metals."

Cons:

• "Not many new exhibits year to year in the museum."
• "The cabinets seemed emptied of what the original collector had amassed in creating the collection."
• "Victorian Geologist's Study exhibit seems to have been pushed into a corner and forgotten about, which is a shame because I was looking forward to it."
• "Sadly when I went back today, I found most of what had made it well worth a visit was now gone."

Gift Shop

Pros:

• "And an extensive gift shop at affordable prices."
• "Stunning gifts to buy in all price range."
• "A shop to buy gorgeous gems, jewelry and fossils from 50p to a £1000."
• "Loved the shop and got a few nice pieces there."
• "The gift shop gives you the chance to buy items to build up your own collection."
• "There were some wonderful jewellery and items for sale."
• "The gift shop has a really good selection of gifts to buy as well."

Cons:

• "The prices in the gift shop were maybe a bit ambitious."
• "Thought the shop was a bit pricey but you can't resist a souvenir or two can you?"

Cafe & Food

Pros:

• "Staff were lovely and cafe was pleasant."
• "I would also highly recommend the cafe, I had a piece of the carrot cake which was absolutely delicious!"
• "Really good tea room, some of the best scones I've ever tasted."
• "Lovely food, very reasonable, recommend the soup and sandwich combo, delicious fresh bread, clean and tidy."
• "The cafe serves delicious food too."
• "The cafe is great and the staff are all so friendly and helpful."
• "The cafe also serves really nice food, and staff were great."

Cons:

• "The food was very poor Wont be going back any time soon."
• "Service is a wee bit slow so give yourself time."
• "Cafe food was very nice...but it was expensive."
• "The disabled access was excellent but the food was very poor."
• "Unlike the tea room which was disgusting as well as overpriced, sorry this is my opinion!"

Staff & Service

Pros:

• "Staff where pleasant."
• "We were made very welcome by the staff."
• "Staff are friendly and helpful, and could spend time with you when choosing items.in the well stocked shop."
• "The staff are super friendly and helpful."
• "Very friendly staff, was a pleasure talking to the owner about the giant amethyst as you walk in."
• "All staff superb and helpful."
• "The staff were very friendly and helpful."

Cons:

• "The colleague was rude to every one of them because SHE couldn't find the booking details."

Accessibility & Facilities

Pros:

• "Free parking."
• "If you have an EV, there is a charging station 5 minutes walk away."
• "They have a ramp down to the cafe and it is very accessible."
• "Plenty of parking for the size of the place."
• "The wheelchair accessibility was very much appreciated."
• "There is also a visitor carpark, with capacity for roughly 40 cars."

Cons:

• "Unfortunately didn't go into the museum as they where not dog friendly."

Value & Pricing

Pros:

• "Ticket entry £5."
• "A £5 entry fee to look around this small, but interesting museum."
• "This place was fantastic, and only £6 entry pp."
• "Definitely worth 5 pounds to get in."
• "Definitely worth the £5pp entry fee and the tea and cake was spot on too!"
• "£6 pp entry fee which is very fair."
• "Entrance fee is reasonable."

Cons:

• "Very disappointed...people should be warned about being potentially ripped off."
• "Worth a visit, if a tad pricey for entry."
• "You don't get much for a fiver each, these days, but I was worried we'd paid too much."

Family & Children

Pros:

• "Highly recommend this museum - possibly not for very young children but that of course is an individual decision."
• "Great for all ages."
• "Fantastic display. Lovely day out for families too."
• "For a small Museum we didn't think the kids would like it, But they loved it."
• "Great for children too as they can take part in quizzes and get a lucky dip when completed."
• "If you bring children they can do quizzes to keep them entertained while you look around the museum."
• "The kids' quiz was a nice touch with a free lucky dip gemstone as a prize at the end."

Cons:

• "The only thing I would change is that it would benefit from a outdoor play area for the kids."
• "Just needs a little more kid interaction I would say say,as kids lost interest after about 20 mins some sort of workshop for kids to teach them how to find them and open the rocks would make it much better and I wouldn't mind paying a little extra for that."