Funds boost for famous regiment's unique collection

Museums Galleries Scotland has awarded the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Trust £40,000 to protect its unique collection.
By The Newsroom
Published 22nd Jul 2017, 12:12 BST
Updated 12th Sep 2017, 11:59 BST
05-06-2017. Picture Michael Gillen. STIRLING, Stirling Castle. Reporter Scott McAngus being given a guided tour of Argyll and Sutherland Highlander Museum by chief executive Rob Laydon ahead of refurbishment.05-06-2017. Picture Michael Gillen. STIRLING, Stirling Castle. Reporter Scott McAngus being given a guided tour of Argyll and Sutherland Highlander Museum by chief executive Rob Laydon ahead of refurbishment.
05-06-2017. Picture Michael Gillen. STIRLING, Stirling Castle. Reporter Scott McAngus being given a guided tour of Argyll and Sutherland Highlander Museum by chief executive Rob Laydon ahead of refurbishment.

Currently about a third of its priceless collection of militaria and artworks is stored “ad hoc” in the 400-year old King’s Old Building at Stirling Castle.

News of the funds boost came as the Argylls’ Museum at Stirling Castle launched a major public consultation to help design its activities following its forthcoming renovation.

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The activities will involve the display of its historically important and fascinating artefacts throughout its traditional Central Scotland recruitment area.

It includes Falkirk, Dunbartonshire, Stirlingshire, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde Clackmannanshire, and Argyll and the Isles.

The museum will use the MGS grant to create new storage area, with environmental controls and proper storage facilities to ensure the preserved of the collection well into the future.

Museum Chief Executive Rob Layden said: “The primary purpose of any museum is to care for its artefacts in an environment that will allow these objects to be conserved for future display and research.”

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Sarah Bronsdon, Director of Heritage Project Support which is conducting the outreach work, said: “It is not just the building that is changing, it’s the whole way the Museum works.

“We appreciate that not everyone knows the historical context of the collection, or is able to visit the Museum itself for various reasons.

“So we are reaching out across the recruiting areas to get ideas about bringing the collection out them and sharing its unique contents with local communities.

“The collection offers many different themes that will interest people.

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“We need to know what is most important to people and how best to get it to them.

A survey https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Argylls is being conducted by consultants Heritage Project Support, who were appointed to develop the project’s Activity Plan, a critical part of the museum’s submission to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

“Responses to our simple 10-minute questionnaire will help shape the content and the activity of the refurbished museum.”

Anybody responding has a chance to win tickets to visit Stirling Castle.

The consultation continues until August 25.

Related topics:Museum