Home > Uniquely Unspoilt Magazine > Issue 12 > Scottish museums

~~Unusual Scottish museums ~~

While Scotland may have some famous museums in its largest cities, including the National Gallery of Scotland  in Edinburgh and the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, there are plenty of equally fascinating smaller museums all over rural Scotland offering a personal experience of a different way of life. Here is a selection of the most interesting ones to visit.

The Secret Bunker near Crail and Anstruther in Fife reopens this month for the summer, and is an eerily atmospheric insight into what life would have been like for the 300 people who could have lived here in the event of nuclear attack. 100 feet underground, you can eat in the tiny canteen, have a look the cramped dormitories and there are even original 50s records in the jukebox.

Another museum with a military theme is the Museum of Flight near Haddington, East Lothian which recently started to open daily for the tourist season. More than fifty vintage aircraft are packed into old WW2 hangars, including a Spitfire and Tigermoth, and they?ll be joined in August by Concorde.

The museum, which is one of the eight National Museums of Scotland also holds an airshow in July which has displays of vintage aeroplanes, and jets doing acrobatics.

A fellow NMS museum is Shambellie House Museum of Costume near Dumfries. The Victorian house displays costume from the 1850s to the 1950s in period room settings, and you can have a look at scenes ranging from a 1930s bride getting ready for the big day to children?s clothes and even guests at a dinner party.

For another opportunity to get the feel of a very different kind of everyday life, the Blackhouse at Arnol, Lewis is a fascinating look at island life. The house has an earth floor, bed boxes and central peat fire with no chimney, and amazingly was lived in by a family and their animals as recently as the 1960s. Now it has an interactive visitor centre and is a Visit Scotland five star attraction.

The Verdant Works in Dundee, which tells the story of jute, may not sound wildly exciting but its hi tech presentation of the industrial and social history of the trade is really interesting and makes you wonder what it would have been like to be a worker there - it?s also been awarded a five star award from Visit Scotland and is a great day out for children.

It also holds special events - at the end of May there?ll be an exhibition called ?Jute Journeys - A Celebration of Indian Culture? to celebrate travel and trading links between Dundee and India.  You?ll be able to try out crafts, dance moves, and even sample traditional Indian dishes.

Lastly, the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses in Fraserburgh on the north east coast is an excellent place to find out more about the last 200 years of Scotland?s lighthouse history. The decommissioned lighthouse at Kinnaird Head that houses the museum was the very first one to be built on top of a fortified castle, and has the largest and best collection of lighthouse lenses as well as a café with excellent sea views.

Cottages relevant to this article

The following holiday cottages are situated within easy reach of the locations mentioned above: