Undiscovered Scotland

 

Gairloch Museum re-opened in new purpose-built premises a little south of its previous location in summer 2019. It also had a new name, having previously been the "Gairloch Heritage Museum". We haven't visited since it reopened, and will do so when next in the area. For the moment we have updated this page with images provided by the Gairloch Museum and credited to Mark Appleton Photography. The only exceptions to this are the two images of the old museum, which are our own.

The new museum occupies a huge concrete structure originally built in about 1950 as an Anti-Aircraft Operations Room (AAOR) to control Cold War air defence. It is one of four in Scotland. It had more recently served as a Highland Council roads depot.

The exterior is painted a stiking white, which we are pretty sure was not a finish applied when it served in its orginal role. Its interior is arranged around a large double-height central atrium with rooms surrounding it on two floors.