A Tales of Two Museums: The Angus Folk Museum and Glenesk Retreat & Folk Museum

A rather plaintive, short piece regarding two museums in the county.  The Angus Folk Museum in Glamis has been permanently closed for a number of years due to the condition of the building in which it is housed.  The Glenesk Retreat and Folk Museum is also closed for restructuring, but it will return as an attraction for visitors. 

   The Glenesk Folk Museum at the Retreat was set up in 1955 by Miss Greta Michie, a local farmer's daughter and school teacher, based on Scandinavian folk museums she had visited in Norway. The Retreat (which was a former hunting lodge of the Earls of Dalhousie) houses an extremely large collection of artefacts, some of which are now on display in the museum. In 2004 a community purchase and subsequent major refurbishment of circa £800,000 took place.  One room inside shows a rural Victorian parlour, with all the furnishings of the period, from harmonium, bonny china plates, plus tapestries.

Greta Michie

   There is, inside the museum a large spinning wheel, extraordinarily more than 300 years old, which allegedly belonged to a lady named Jessie Cattanach who had the distinction of being more than  feet in height, nearly a giantess in her day.  You can also see a 17th century box bed and a large collection of old children's and adult's clothes.  There are many thousands of objects in storage on site, many of which will be shown to the public when the displays change in the future.

The Retreat in the 1970s

   The Angus Folk Museum was also instituted by the efforts of one remarkable woman, Jean, Lady Maitland, who was inspired by the Highland Folk Museum, Am Fasadh, and wanted to emulate something which would cover Angus and Strathmore.  She first set up a collection in Rescobie manse and opened to the public in September 1953.  It moved to its more permanent home in an old cottage in Kirk Wynd in Glamis in 1957 and there it remained till the present.  Additions were made to the buildings in the 1970s, which was also the decade when the National Trust for Scotland took over its ownership.   

   The buildings here date back to the late 18th century, but sadly they have become dilapidated, leading the museum to permanently close.  The National trust for Scotland have advised they hope to find alternative premises for the fine collection and one hopes it will not be too long before an announcement to this effect is made.  

Other museums are available (and open) in Angus.

*** 2021 Update. The National Trust for Scotland have announced that a refurbishment to the House of Dun near Montrose will include much of the material (and more) which was formerly housed in the Angus Folk Museum at Glamis.