Dumfries Museum

55°03′55″N 3°36′53″W / 55.0652°N 3.6146°W / 55.0652; -3.6146Renovated2011

Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura, located in Dumfries in Dumfries & Galloway, is the largest museum in the region. The museum has extensive collections relating to local and history from the pre-historic era. The museum also has the world's oldest working Camera Obscura. Admission is free, however a small fee applies for the Camera Obscura.

Collections

The museum's collections cover all material relating to the natural history and human pre-history of the region, from geology to dress, folk material, archaeology and early photographs.^[1]

Notable artefacts include:

A cast of the skull of Robert the Bruce as well as femur and foot bones.^[2]
A Bronze Age cist burial including the remains of a 35-year-old man from the beaker people.^[3]
A large collection of Roman and Celtic stone crosses and funerary monuments.^[4]^[5]
A replica of the first bicycle, as designed by Kirkpatrick Macmillan.^[6]
The photographic archive of Dr Werner Kissling.^[7]
Personal items belonging to Thomas Carlyle^[8]
Fossil reptile tracks from the local Permian sandstone including Corncockle Quarry.^[9]

History

Originally built as a four-storey windmill on Corbelly hill, the highest point in Maxwelltown, in 1798, the site was purchased by Dumfries and Maxwellton Astronomical Society in 1834.^[10] Over a two-year period the tower was converted into an Observatory,^[11] and with advice from polar explorer Sir John Ross, a telescope was purchased from a Mr Morton of Kilmarnock. With its completion in 1836, unfortunately the observatory missed the arrival of Halley's comet; however, it was used in this role until 1872.

The main hall of the museum was built in 1862, and housed the collections of the newly founded Dumfries and Galloway Natural History & Antiquarian Society. In 1981 a major addition of a new gallery, shop, search room and offices for curatorial staff was added. In 2011 the exterior of the windmill tower was refurbished.^[12]

Camera Obscura

The camera obscura is currently the oldest working example in the world, and has been in continuous operation since 1836.^[13] The instrument, based in the top level of the windmill tower, offers a complete 360° panorama of the surrounding landscape. The image is projected onto a focusing table below, and operated using a simple rope mechanism.^[14] In order to protect the instrument it is only operated during the summer months and on days when weather conditions are clear.^[15] The museums photographic expert for thirty years was Werner Kissling who donated his photos to the museum when he died.^[16]

References

^ "Dumfries Museum & Camera Obscura".
^ "Robert the Bruce, cast of his skull".
^ "Cist burial, Mainsriddle, Colvend and Southwick".
^ "Ritual and religion".
^ "Early Christians".
^ "Replica of Kirkpatrick Macmillan's bicycle".
^ "Dr Werner Kissling".
^ "Thomas Carlyle".
^ Jardine, Sir William (1853). The Ichnology of Annandale or Illustrations of Footmarks Impressed on the New Red Sandstone of Corncockle Muir.
^ "I like – Happy to be a part of the industry of human happiness".
^ "History of the Burgh of Dumfries".
^ "Dumfries Museum & Camera Obscura Feature Page on Undiscovered Scotland".
^ "Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura, Dumfries – Museums".
^ "I like – Happy to be a part of the industry of human happiness".
^ "Dumfries Museum - DG Culture | Dumfries and Galloway Culture | Museums and galleries - Dumfries and Galloway Council | Festivals | Events | Exhibitions | Whats on Dumfries and Galloway".
^ "Dr Werner Kissling". www.futuremuseum.co.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2022.