After years of planning, fundraising and navigating the inevitable challenges of a major capital project, Glencoe Folk Museum has finally begun work on its ambitious redevelopment. Project Director David Rounce, along with museum curator Catriona Davidson, shares an update with the MHH network on the journey so far – from restoring the museum’s historic heather-thatched cottages and creating new visitor facilities, to developing new exhibitions and a community gallery. With £3 million raised and building work now well underway, the team is working towards reopening in spring 2027 and creating an all-weather attraction that puts Glencoe’s remarkable heritage at the heart of the visitor experience.
Glencoe Folk Museum began work on a transformative redevelopment project in 2019, designed to restore our Cat. B listed heather-thatched cruck-framed cottages, build an extension building with new visitor facilities (including our first ever toilets!), produce all-new exhibitions and convert our Byre into a community gallery. Our aim has been to create an all-weather attraction – a rarity in Glencoe – which will not only become a vibrant, accessible, hub for community heritage but also attract and enthral the many thousands of tourists that visit the area each year with the unique historical environment of Glencoe.
As a tiny organisation with huge ambitions, we’ve been buffeted by circumstances and weathered many challenges – Covid, a volatile construction market and no small amount of bureaucracy to name but a few – but with the support of the local community and wider heritage sector we’ve been able to produce dazzling plans and raise £3m to bring them to fruition, albeit at the cost of being around two years behind schedule!
We were delighted to begin building work this summer – ground was broken in June (with the traditional posing-with-shovels group photo) and right now the foundations for the new extension building have been dug and drains laid ready for concrete to be poured. The heather thatch has been removed from the 19th century cottages but progress here has been slower owing to historic structural issues which only came to light during site clearance. Fortunately, builders Taylor & Fraser Ltd are on the case, with their extensive experience of historic structures from Dumfries House to Inverary Castle, and the Museum is scheduled to be ready to reopen around Easter 2027. In parallel we’re working with exhibition specialists Mather & Co. – recently of the Inverness Castle project – to design and install our all-new displays and interior spaces.
You may also have seen on our socials that we had incredible restoration work done on a painting that was donated to us in 2023 from Luxembourg. The ‘Widow of Glencoe’ got a glow-up from Henry Matthews and the team at Egan, Matthews & Rose in Dundee, who we highly recommend if you are looking for painting conservators! We’ve been busy behind the scenes getting our objects ready for display, and should be installing them at the start of next year.
Watch this space!