Jedburgh Castle Jail & Museum launches dark tourism experience

The immersive visitor experiences have been developed to create a new income stream for the museum, while also creating a new way for visitors to engage with the site’s history.

The escape room, UNSOLVED: The Malcolm Munro Case uses storytelling, problem-solving, and teamwork to immerse visitors in a fictional investigation inspired by the history and atmosphere of the jail.

While the Hidden Cell Tour provides exclusive access to the Male Prisoners’ Cell Block, allowing visitors to explore previously inaccessible areas while uncovering the stories of the people who lived, worked, and were imprisoned at the site.

The project has been funded through the Museum Futures Innovation Fund which supports museums to develop, trial, and implement activities that directly improve their financial position.

Upon awarding the funding earlier this year, Lucy Casot CEO of MGS said:

“We are delighted to support this project through the Museum Futures Programme. Museum Futures is designed to help museums test innovative ideas, collaborate in new ways, and build organisational sustainability.

“Projects like this show how museums can bring local stories to life in creative ways while developing new income streams and strengthening their connection with communities and visitors. We are excited to see how this initiative will help ensure the powerful history of Jedburgh Castle Jail continues to be shared and enjoyed for many years to come.”

Yesterday, Live Borders hosted an event to mark the launch of the new initiatives, bringing together local councillors, partners, community members, and tourism stakeholders.

Gillian Simison, Head of Museum Development at MGS attended the event and delivered a short speech where she congratulated the Live Borders team on the successful project launch and highlighted the importance of museums as community spaces for learning, connection, and enjoyment.

Gillian also emphasised the significance of the Museum Futures programme in building long term resilience for the sector.

“Museum Futures aims to ensure that we can continue enjoying and benefitting from these cultural assets in the future by helping museums to explore enterprising ideas to generate income” Gillian said. “The development of the escape room and the costumed guided tours are two brilliant examples of such ideas and this is one of the very first innovation projects to launch to visitors, so we are particularly excited to see this one get going.”