Hypatia Trust
In 2026 the Hypatia Trust turns thirty.
For three decades we've been recording, gathering and honouring the lives and work of women in Cornwall. building an archive and library, running a bookshop, and creating a space where women's work, lives, diversity, and creativity is taken seriously and celebrated joyously.
We're marking the anniversary with a season of events this summer.
We'd love to see you.
The Hypatia Trust celebrates the lives and works of women, past and present, fostering a community that values and promotes equality and diversity. With our archive, library, community space, and bookshop, we empower women, and inform and inspire the wider community by collecting, curating, and sharing documents, artefacts, writings, and art that highlight women's contributions to society, both in our home base Cornwall and beyond.
We're a small charity run largely by volunteers who care about the same thing: that women's lives, work, and creativity deserve to be found, remembered, and shared.
Our space is also somewhere you're welcome to come and think: whether that's a quiet afternoon with the archive, a meeting room that feels nothing like a meeting room, or simply a good place to sit with a book.
A place to meet, shape ideas, experiences, hopes and memories. Hypatia is a space where womenʼs past and present accomplishments are amplified, creating community and connection.
Explore
Stay with us
In one half of the Trust’s beautiful Chapel Street premises sits our two-bed en-suit self-contained Hypatia Apartment. The Trust’s offices are situated next door and all the income from renting this lovely apartment goes to help support the charity and the work we do.
A room of her own:
how you can support the Hypatia Trust
Volunteer
Our volunteers are passionate about women’s stories and histories, and enjoy sharing them by selling books in our bookshop, writing for our newsletter, assisting with our library and archive, and helping at our events and workshops. Let us know how you’d like to help: we’d love to hear from you!
Visit our bookshop
Selling carefully curated selections of pre-loved books, artwork and books by local artists and authors, and works from our small press featuring academic, social history and reference books, our online and in-person bookshops feature women's narratives and other lesser-heard voices in history. Making a purchase directly supports our work!
Attend our events
Joining the conversation at one of our talks, exhibitions, workshops or performances is one of the best ways to support us. We look forward to welcoming you.
Donate
We welcome your donations to The Hypatia Trust. As a charity your contributions are what sustain us and ensure we can continue to support and empower women by hosting talks, workshops, residencies and more. Thanks to your support we've made it to 30 years: help us plan for 30 more!
Stay connected
Follow us
Find us on Instagram and please like, share and comment on our posts. This ensures that more people hear about us and see our work.
Share your story
If you have experienced something incredible at our events, found your next read at our bookshop or in our newsletter, followed us on Instagram, or immersed yourself in our library and archive, don’t keep it to yourself, tell your friends!
