Arbuthnot Museum

Arbuthnot Museum
The building in 2020
LocationSt Peter Street, Peterhead, Scotland
Founded1893 (132 years ago) (1893)
ArchitectDuncan McMillan
Architectural style(s)English Renaissance
Governing bodyHistoric Environment Scotland
OwnerAberdeenshire Council
Listed Building – Category C(S)
Official namePeterhead Library and Arbuthnot Museum including attached librarian's house, outbuilding to rear and associated gatepiers, St Peter Street, Peterhead
Designated21 June 2022
Reference no.LB52606

Arbuthnot Museum is a museum and former library in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. A Category C listed structure, it stands on St Peter Street at its junction with Queen Street. American industrialist Andrew Carnegie donated funds towards its construction. It is one of the earliest of Carnegie's libraries in the world.[1]

History

Local merchant Adam Arbuthnot left a collection of his personal items to the town upon his death in 1850.[1] The possessions were stored in several homes in the town until the library and museum building was completed.[2]

The building was designed by Aberdeen architect Duncan McMillan in the English Renaissance style and built between 1891 and 1893. It is two storeys, constructed in coursed and squared pink Peterhead granite. A square clock tower rises 73 feet (22 m)[3] from its southeastern corner, displaying four pedimented clock faces and capped by a dome and cupola.[1]

In 1889, three Peterhead men wrote to Andrew Carnegie, asking for his help in building a new free public library for the town. He responded: "If Peterhead adopted the Free Library Act and raised a fund for a library building, I would give the last thousand pounds required for a suitable structure." On 8 August 1891, Carnegie's wife, Louise, laid the building's foundation stone. The library and museum opened on 12 October 1893.[1]

As of November 2024, the building is temporarily closed[4] while its former library is moved to Arbuthnot House,[5] located a short distance to the southeast, on Broad Street.[6] Arbuthnot Museum is also being restored and refurbished.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 'Peterhead Library and Arbuthnot Museum including attached librarian’s house, outbuilding to rear and associated gatepiers, St Peter Street, Peterhead" – Historic Environment Scotland
  2. ^ "Blade 19". The Peterhead Trail. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
  3. ^ Greenwood (1891). Public Libraries, a History of the Movement Ans Manuel for the Organization and Management of Rate-supported Libraries. p. 259.
  4. ^ "Arbuthnot Museum". www.livelifeaberdeenshire.org.uk. 2020-03-08. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
  5. ^ "Peterhead museum plans unveiled by Aberdeenshire Council". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
  6. ^ "Arbuthnot House Peterhead Library | Engage Aberdeenshire". engage.aberdeenshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
  7. ^ "Initial designs unveiled for £20m Peterhead museum and library". Scottish Construction Now. 2024-01-16. Retrieved 2024-11-11.

57°30′25″N 1°46′54″W / 57.5070721°N 1.7815637°W / 57.5070721; -1.7815637