What are the opening hours?

Tuesday 11am - 3pm Wednesday 11am - 3pm Thursday 11am - 3pm Friday 11am - 3pm Saturday 11am - 3pm Sunday 12pm - 4pm

Glencoe Folk Museum

Name: Glencoe Folk Museum
Address: Glencoe Village, Ballachulish, PH494HS, GB
Telephone: +441855811664
Price range: $

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Glencoe Folk Museum

Now CLOSED for Redevelopment! We will reopen in 2027. Keep up to date here or on our website! We are currently CLOSED for Redevelopment. We will reopen in 2026.

Keep up to date with our Redevelopment project here and on our website, where we will be bringing you behind-the-scenes snippets, photos, progress reports and more! Set within traditional, heather-thatched 19th Century cottages, Glencoe Folk Museum holds an eclectic array of objects celebrating local heritage and providing an insight into the history of the area and its people. Our collections inc

lude the Jacobites, archaeology, medicine, slate, ceramics, toys, costume, military and more! Learn about the infamous Massacre of Glencoe * Explore an authentic croft cottage * Take part in craft activities and other fun events * Browse our gift shop * Become a volunteer

01/09/2026

This postcard was recently donated to us- it features John MacDonald, a Traveller Piper, and his granddaughter Annie. Glen Coe was a popular spot for Travellers, who could earn money piping for tourists at beauty spots or selling items such as woven baskets, clothes pegs, and white heather.

Jess Smith talks about the importance of the pipes to Travellers and mentions musicians, including John MacDonald, at Glen Coe in her work on Scottish Traveller history, The Way of the Wanderers:

"Standing on a narrow strip of tarmac in MacDonald’s glen I strained my ears for that familiar sound, a sound that had always been part of me and my past. Where was the piper resplendent in full Highland regalia – the towering giant, Wullie MacPhee, or John Macdonald, the auld weaver, or those stirring masters of the bagpipe, the Stewart boys?"

Discover Glencoe, Scotland

29/08/2026

What if your £1 lottery ticket could help protect Highland history and give you the chance to win £25,000? Sounds pretty good to us! 😄

With the Giving Lottery, every ticket you buy helps support Glencoe Folk Museum. 40p from every £1 ticket goes directly to us, helping us care for our artefacts and continue sharing the stories of Glencoe with our community.

Try your luck here 🍀:
https://www.givinglottery.org.uk/support/glencoe-folk-museum

26/08/2026

It's ! 🐶❤️

If you are visiting Glencoe with your four-legged friend and looking for dog-friendly walks, eats and activities, then we have you covered - check out our guide below! 👇️

https://www.glencoemuseum.com/post/dog-friendly-glencoe

Local businesses - let us know if we've missed your dog-friendly offer and we'll add you into the blog post!

📷️: Sgòrr na Cìche (the Pap of Glencoe); Beinn Bheag above the Devil's Staircase; Kingshouse Hotel; Beinn a Chrùlaiste; Crafts & Things.

Discover Glencoe, Scotland

20/08/2026

🎒👩‍🏫 Good luck to all the children and teachers who went back to school this week after the summer holidays!

📕 Here is a logbook entry from Ballachulish Public School written in 1907:

✒️ "The school having been closed on the 25th June, owing to the prevalence of whooping cough amongst the children, was reopened today with a fair attendance. All the teachers were present."

🤓 Logbooks are a fantastic resource containing a wealth of information about local life, work and education, and giving us a glimpse into the past. In the early 20th century, whooping cough was a dangerous and often fatal disease, killing tens of thousands of children annually.

17/08/2026

Our founder, Barbara Fairweather, lived in Invercoe House from 1961 until her death in 2001 (in fact, you might spot her book 'Highland Heritage' in one of these photos!)

Over winter, the collection would be decanted from the Museum cottages to Invercoe, and Barbara would spend her time cleaning, polishing and maintaining the thousands of items. She would often invite visitors back to her house for tea, where she would regale them with stories of the area, and they could browse the exhibits. Locals particularly remember both the joy and trepidation of exploring her old house as children, coming face to face with a taxidermy eagle on the staircase or peering through the windows of a doll’s house 🦅

Though the house has been upgraded since then, we thought that these photos might bring back some memories for anyone who was lucky enough to have spent time there in amongst Barbara's treasures. If this was you then we'd love to hear from you! 💌

14/08/2026

We’ve been teasing it for a while, but now - following incredible restoration work carried out by Dundee-based conservators Egan, Matthews & Rose - we are finally ready to reveal the full “Scene from the Massacre” painting that was donated to us all the way from Luxembourg back in 2023.

This painting had been in the Weny family for generations and has no artist’s signature - only a monogram, which we have been unable to identify. However, thanks to a description in the Banffshire Journal of a painting exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1881, we believe that the artist may have been James Goldingham:

- “The Widow of Glencoe”, a picture of a somewhat ghastly character, by Mr James Goldingham, the dead Highlander lying half-buried among the snow at the foot of the mountain, and the widow wringing her hands over him, for there, she says “I found him lying murdered/ Where he woo’d me long ago.”-

This quote is from the poem ‘The Widow of Glencoe’ by William Edmonstoun Aytoun and was the title under which the painting was displayed. We are still undertaking research to see if we can find an image of this painting or of Goldingham’s monogram to compare and definitively identify him as the artist, but you can see for yourself that the painting very closely resembles this description!

These images (© Egan, Matthews & Rose, 2025) show the painting before, after, and during restoration, and we are so grateful to EMR for working their magic - what a transformation!! She is going to look so stunning in ‘Our Clans’ and we can’t wait for visitors to see her in the redeveloped Museum when we reopen next year!

Discover Glencoe, Scotland
Museums and Heritage Highland

11/08/2026

Known as the “Fox of Glencoe”, Hamish MacInnes was a climber and inventor, and was instrumental in founding Glencoe Mountain Rescue. After several fatal accidents caused by broken wooden ice axes, he helped develop the first all-metal ice axes for commercial use, a design that revolutionised safety in the mountains.

This ice axe in the Museum’s collection represents that remarkable legacy. Tools like this helped transform mountaineering equipment and have played a role in saving countless lives on hills and mountains around the world.

Could you adopt our MacInnes Ice Axe to help preserve our artefacts for generations to come? It costs just £15 to adopt the axe and currently your adoption is valid for 3 years! However, anyone donating £50 or more will be recognised through their very own leaf on the redeveloped Museum's Tree of Sponsors.

You can adopt the MacInnes Ice Axe here ❤️:
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/glencoefolkmuseum-macinnesiceaxe

When making your donation, you must tick the box that says; “I’m happy for Glencoe Folk Museum to keep in touch with me by email” so we can send you the digital adoption pack. Otherwise, we won’t know your contact details.

08/08/2026

It's ! 🐈️

Meet Amber, our mascot for the Children's Trail that will appear in the new displays, guiding families around child-friendly captions, information and activities!

Amber is based on his namesake who belonged to our founder, Barbara Fairweather, and appears curled in her lap in the attached painting by Phoebe Barrow. He inspired Barbara to write adventure stories for children in the family, including tales such as "Amber Goes to the Highland Games", "Amber's Magic Carpet", and "Amber's Hogmanay".

Look out for him around the Museum when we reopen next year!

07/08/2026

👀 Some wonderful art went up at the Museum building site this week!

🖼️ These artworks were created by S2 students at Kinlochleven High School, inspired by museum objects, the history of the area, the landscape around them, and their own imaginations! So while you can't currently visit the objects themselves, you can still explore and engage with our collection while we are closed - and you can also browse over 200 (and counting!) of our objects and photographs on eHive: https://ehive.com/collections/205171/glencoe-folk-museum

🏛️ The new panels also give a bit more information about the Redevelopment and highlight the funders who are making this project possible.

🙏 Thanks to Kinlochleven High School for working with us on this, and all our funders including The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland, The Highland Council, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks and Garfield Weston Foundation.

Discover Glencoe, Scotland
Museums and Heritage Highland

03/08/2026

💌 We'll be sending out our Summer newsletter this week so this is your last chance to sign up before then!

👷🖼️ Get the latest updates on our building progress and be among the first to see our restored "Widow of Glencoe" painting and find out about its origins.

📝 Sign up here: http://eepurl.com/ie4P4z and get our Museum news delivered straight to your inbox!

Discover Glencoe, Scotland
Museums and Heritage Highland

Address

Glencoe Village
Ballachulish
PH494HS

Opening Hours

Tuesday	11am - 3pm
Wednesday	11am - 3pm
Thursday	11am - 3pm
Friday	11am - 3pm
Saturday	11am - 3pm
Sunday	12pm - 4pm

Telephone

+441855811664

Website

http://www.glencoemuseum.com/

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