Elgin Museum

Elgin Museum is run by The Moray Society and is Scotland’s oldest independent museum.

The fossils exhibits and Pictish stones are internationally renowned. From among the museum’s 36,000 items there is a Roman hoard on display which was discovered on a local dig. The curator, an expert on Roman history, is on hand to share his knowledge.

The collection includes important archives such as the George Gordon correspondence and Grant of Wester Elchies papers which consists of correspondence between family members of the Lairds of Wester Elchies (1780 -1920). The estate was a small part of the extensive lands owned by Sir Archibald Grant of Monymusk. He sold Wester Elchies mansion and some surrounding lands to Robert Grant, a local lad who made good in Canada and London during 1786. Robert Grant styled himself first Laird of Wester Elchies. His descendants preferred to live at Carron house and were known locally as lairds of Carron. The last laird died in 1952.

Other archive papers include some of the writings of Charles Darwin and T. H. Huxley.

Recent acquisitions include a set of miniatures of the Parthenon Frieze (The Elgin Marbles) by John Henning, and many multi-period archaeological finds from a site near Burghead, allocated as Treasure Trove to Elgin Museum by the Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel.

On an October evening in the year 1836 a group of Elgin men, including ministers, bankers and merchants met for the first time to discuss an exciting new project:

“Instituting in Elgin a Museum for the collection and preservation of objects of Science and Virtue”.
As a result of this historic meeting, The Elgin and Morayshire Scientific Association was born. Elgin Museum was built in 1842 to house the collections of The Elgin and Morayshire Scientific Association. The Victorians who built the museum collected a wide range of objects and artefacts – local, national and from the remote corners of the world.

Although it was their enthusiasm and commitmment which brought their plans to fruition, it could not have been achieved without patrons, sponsors and friends giving their time, money and objects to the museum. This ethos has become the key to the well-being of Elgin Museum and still applies today.

Elgin Museum remains independent and is owned and managed by The Moray Society (formally Elgin and Morayshire Scientific Association). The Museum is open to the public from April to October. During the ‘winter’ months, the museum is open by appointment, and welcomes group visits.

Disabled Access: Elgin Museum strives to comply with Physical & Intellectual Access and issues relating to DDA legislation, and openly welcomes visitors with disabilities. Although, due to building constraints, access to the upstairs Mezzanine Gallery is restricted, there is a user friendly computer system in the Main Gallery. This double screened computer allows visitors of all abilities to search the collections and ‘see’ what is on display in the 8 corridor glass display cases, and what Exhibition is on in the small Mezzanine Gallery at the time. We also welcome comments from visitors with disabilities, enabling us to improve our service and general access to ‘most’ areas. We have a superb Disabled Toilet facility on in the Main Gallery and were awarded the Moray Access Panel 2004 Award for the Best Refurbished Building. Come and give us a try… We would welcome your comments.

Opening Hours

•April– October Inclusive
•Monday-Friday 10am-5pm
•Saturday 11am-4pm
•Sunday closed
At other times, and from November – March:open by appointment. Please ask.

Admission Charges:

•Adults £4.00
•Children, £1.50
•Concessions £2.00
•Family £8.00 (2 adults and 3 children under 16 years)
•Moray Society Members FREE
•Children Under 5 years Free

To ensure there has been no change to the opening times or details on this page, please check with the museum directly before visiting.