Tain & District Museum

Tain & District Museum
Motto To preserve & display the local history of the Tain area.
Location
Region served
 Highland, Scotland
Website http://www.tainmuseum.org.uk/

The Tain & District Museum, part of the larger Tain Through Time centre, is located in Tain, Ross-shire, Scotland, and opened in 1966,[1] the 900th anniversary of Tain's charter.[2]

Rosemary Mackenzie, the museum's first curator,[3] was particularly interested in the town's history and had for years been collecting items of local interest, especially after the re-organisation of local government in 1975 when much valuable material might have been re-located away from Tain. The growing collection was held in what had been the caretaker's cottage[4] of the Old Collegiate Church,[5] built in the 1880s.

Perhaps the most important and certainly the rarest items are the C18 and C19 examples of Tain silver.[6][7][8] In 1997 Tain silver was the subject of the first exhibition mounted by the museum and included not only examples from the Museum's own collection but also items from individual and corporate owners including one from the Royal Collection at Windsor. This example of Tain Silverwork was exhibited in the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow in 1938.

The snuffbox, the work of Hugh Ross
Snuff Box by Hugh Ross, Tain Silversmith, mid-18th Century

Tain Through Time

The Tain & District Museum forms one part of the larger visitor centre on the site, the whole of which is called Tain Through Time.

Tain Through Time also includes an old schoolhouse, now called The Pilgrimage, with a gallery illustrating King James IV pilgrimages to Tain as well as housing a shop and office.

Also on the Tain Through Time site is the Collegiate Church[9] whose status was confirmed by Papal bull from Innocent VIII[10] issued in 1492.

The Tain & District Museum is staffed by local volunteers whose teamwork, enthusiasm and dedication was recognised by the Glasgow Herald newspaper.[11]

Exhibits

The Museum changes many of its exhibits each season. 2011 displays include:

Clan Ross Centre

The Tain & District Museum functions as the Clan Ross Centre and assists Rosses researching their clan roots.[12][13] It tells the story of the clan down the centuries and links this to Clan Ross activities today. Information on the clan is available in a selection of books, DVDs together with other Ross mementos.

There was a large and active local East Ross population in Pictish times, (approximately 50BC to 900AD). They erected many carved stones[14] which are now either standing in-place, displayed in Edinburgh, or preserved in Tain in the museum, such as the Ardjachie Stone.[15]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.tain.org.uk/tain-through-time-g.asp The Tain Community Website
  2. ↑ http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/item/item_writtenword.jsp?item_id=21366 "Tain's charter of 1529, is preserved in Highland Council archives"
  3. ↑ http://clanross.org/index.php?id=02_History_and_Ancestry/06_Tain_Museum.php The beginnings of Tain & District Museum, Clan Ross website
  4. ↑ http://www.cali.co.uk/highexp/tain.asp "The museum is centred in the Caretakers Cottage", Scottish Provincial Press (Tain) webpage
  5. ↑ http://www.archhighland.org.uk/news.asp?newsid=54 Tain & District Museum Precinct, Archeology for Communities in the Highlands website
  6. ↑ http://scottishprovincialsilver.com/acatalog/Tain_Silver.html Examples of Tain Silver, Scottish Provincial Silver website, Tain Silver webpage
  7. ↑ http://www.leopardantiques.com/object/stock/detail/70 Rare Tain Silver, Leopard Antiques website
  8. ↑ http://www.ross-shirejournal.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/3673/Tain%27s_silver_comes_home.html The Hugh Ross Tain silver comes home, Ross-Shire Journal, 4 April 2008
  9. ↑ http://www.archhighland.org.uk/news.asp?newsid=54 Tain Collegiate Church, Archeology for communities in the Highlands
  10. ↑ http://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/00401/6AA431B7873E042EE7687ED3036AAC27BAA49C0C.html Papal Bull from Innocent VIII, europeana, Think Culture, explore digital contents of Europe's museums & galleries
  11. ↑ http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/museum-wins-historic-acclaim-1.315130 An early award given by Scottish-Hydro to Tain & District Museum, Commended by The Herald Newspaper, the Herald article
  12. ↑ http://clanross.org/index.php?id=02_History_and_Ancestry/06_Tain_Museum.php Clan Ross archives at Tain & District Museum, Clan Ross website
  13. ↑ http://www.greatclanross.org/2009Gathering3.html "The museum is home to Ross artifacts", Clan Ross website
  14. ↑ Pictish carved stones near Tain "The Stones of the Pictish Peninsulas of Easter Ross and the Black Isle", D Scott, Historic Hilton Trust, 2004
  15. ↑ The Ardjachie Stone, Ibid

External links

Coordinates: 57°48′44″N 4°03′17″W / 57.8121°N 4.0546°W / 57.8121; -4.0546

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