The Maritime Museum occupies a converted 19th-century warehouse on the Old Harbour waterfront, one of a row of granite quayside buildings that give St Helier's harbour its handsome, slightly austere character. Inside, the exhibits cover Jersey's deep relationship with the sea: the pilchard and cod-fishing industries, the privateering era when island captains operated just this side of piracy, and the smuggling trade that flourished when the island sat conveniently outside British customs jurisdiction.
The hands-on displays include a rocking ship's cabin, navigation instruments, and some fine figureheads salvaged from wrecked vessels. One gallery is devoted to the Occupation Tapestry, a community-stitched record of the German occupation years (1940–45) that is both artistically impressive and historically revealing. The building sits on the edge of the Old Harbour, a short walk from Liberation Square.