Brief History
Campbeltown Museum occupies a sizeable room in an A-listed building which originally also housed the public library and now provides accommodation for Council offices. The initiative to establish a library and museum came in 1896 from the Kintyre Scientific Association, today still active as the Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural History Society. It was the generous response from Mr James Macalister Hall, a wealthy retired businessman, which turned the dream into reality. The well-known Glasgow architect J.J. Burnet designed the building and in 1899 Campbeltonians were able to boast their own Free Library and Museum.
In the early days, the Museum was actually managed by the Librarian of the day. For years the tendency was to accept almost everything donated and as result the collection is a rather “mixed bag”. However, it has a very good collection of Kintyre archaeology, interesting ship models and some fine paintings.
With the relocation of the library to the Aquilibrium leisure centre, the Burnet building was closed for some time for refurbishment but reopened on the 25th of June 2008.
