Dunbeath Heritage Museum

Museum

Explorer Tom

Dunbeath Heritage Museum occupies an old school in Caithness, which is rather fitting: the place still has plenty to teach, only now there is no arithmetic test at the end. Step inside for the people and places of Dunbeath, from the strath's ancient sites to the harbour's herring days and the stories writer Neil Gunn carried into his books. Dunbeath Preservation Trust runs the museum as a home for local objects, photographs, family history and research. The trust was founded in 1985 by the late R. Stanton Avery, then owner of Dunbeath Estate. Its archaeological work helped record hundreds of sites in the strath, and its collections include material about Neil Gunn. There is a whole landscape behind the displays. The trust describes old harbour buildings from the herring boom, early church stones found in the strath and a runestone discovered by schoolchildren. That last detail is enough to make any former pupil wonder whether they were perhaps underperforming on their own school trips. Look at the museum first, then the nearby valley and coast will begin to feel crowded with stories. The museum is at The Old School, Dunbeath, KW6 6ED. Its published summer season runs from April to September, Monday to Friday, with hours dependent on volunteers; last entry is half an hour before closing. Check directly before travelling, especially outside that season. The operator lists two accessible parking spaces, a front entrance ramp and a single level exhibition area. Researchers should arrange access to archive material in advance. Give yourself time: an old school can still send you home with homework, and this is the enjoyable kind.