Dunbar Town House Museum

The historic Dunbar Town House, built towards the end of the 16th century, is considered Scotland's oldest functioning Council Chamber. Spanning a history of more than 400 years, the building has recently been given a 21st century refurbishment and is now open to the public, complete with a brand new museum and gallery exhibition space managed by the Museums Service. Dunbar and District History Society, based within the building, also run an exhibition space as well as a local history search room. On the upper floors there is now a community room, available to council and community groups for meetings and events, in addition to the Council Chambers, which can be booked for meetings, civil marriages and other functions.

 

During the four-year phased refurbishment project, made possible by funding from Dunbar Townscape Heritage Initiative, Historic Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Viridor via Future Balance and ASDA, construction work revealed some fascinating features of the building's past, such as a lintel stone taken from Dunbar Castle c.1568, and historic graffiti dating back to the mid-1700s. Photographs of these and other Town House features can be viewed on the Museums Service flickr page, while the lastest edition of Living East Lothian  presents 'a sneak peek' at the results of the refurbishment.

 

The first temporary exhibition to open in the new museum and gallery space will be:  In Living Memory: 20th-century Dunbar (1 April 2012–March 2013), which will explore 20th-century Dunbar through the reminiscences of local people, including school days, church and community, the town council, summer entertainments, housing and hospitals.

Opening Times:

Monday–Sunday, 1pm-5pm (Apr–Oct) 

The museum will be open at weekends courtesy of Dunbar and District History Society from 1 November to 31 March.