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Friday 11:30am - 4pm Saturday 11:30am - 4pm

Lanark Museum

Name: Lanark Museum
Address: 29 Bloomgate (YMCA building), Lanark, ML119ET, GB
Telephone: +441555666680
Price range: Not applicable

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Lanark Museum

Lanark Museum is open Friday & Saturday, April - September, in the YMCA Bloomgate 11.30-4.00. Car parking is available nearby. Lanark ML11 9HD.

Lanark Museum houses a collection of items which illustrate the ancient and varied history of the town. Lanark is one of Scotland's oldest burghs, and from the time of King William the Lion was a favoured hunting area of the Kings of Scotland. It also has associations with two of Scotland's greatest heroes: William Wallace and King Robert the Bruce. Location
Lanark can be reached with ease from mo

st places in central Scotland and is signposted on all major routes. It is situated nearly half way between Glasgow and Edinburgh and can be reached from both in under an hour. Lanark Museum is within 5 minutes drive of the World Heritage Village of New Lanark and is situated on the main A73 road within 300 yards of the town centre. The headquarters of the museum are at 8 Westport. This property serves as the office, workshop and archive for the museum. An illustrated timeline of Lanark's history and an exhibition of historical artefacts are housed in the YMCA building, 29 Bloomgate, less than 100 yards from 8 Westport and on the other side of the road. Exhibition Opening Hours
11:30 - 16:00; Fridays & Saturdays; April to September

Collection Opening Hours
The volunteers work throughout the year managing the collection. From September to April, when the exhibition is closed, they take down the current exhibition, pack everything into storage in the Westgate premises and begin planning and setting up the next. Individual researchers and group visits (including schools) are welcome at any time by appointment. Admission
Admission is free, although a donation towards the running expenses of the museum would be much appreciated. A donation box is placed at the exit of the exhibition. Funding
The museum is a charitable organisation, managed and staffed by volunteers. The work of the museum is financed through grants, donations given by visitors to the museum and the fund-raising activities of the Friends of Lanark Museum, also a purely voluntary organisation.

05/06/2026

Bonnington Linn with footbridge winter 1895.

This is one of the best relatively early photographs, although not perfect, of the iron bridge spanning part of Bonnington Linn. Although no longer complete, as shown here, it is one of the oldest surviving cast-iron footbridges in Scotland having been made locally at the iron foundry of James Paterson of Carmichael Mill and built in 1829. The bridge was installed at the instigation of Lady Mary Ross of Bonnington House to facilitate viewing of the Bonnington Linn. Lady Mary was also responsible for the construction of steps leading to the foot of Corra Linn which became known as “Lady Mary’s Steps”.

The bridge is narrow being 2½ feet wide, is 30 feet in length and had a wooden deck. The ribs are cast in three sections which are morticed and bolted together. The deck and part of the balustrade have been lost over time but the remaining elements are in fairly good condition.

04/06/2026

Herding Sheep, Polmood Farm, Tweedsmuir. c. 1930

Whilst not in the immediate vicinity of Lanark this photograph is certainly connected to the town as it was the work of the local photographic firm of Archibald Brown & Co. William Brown was well known in agricultural circles as he was regarded as one of the foremost photographers of farm animals and was the official photographer to, amongst others, the Clydesdale Horse Society, the Aberdeen Angus Society, the Short Horn Society, the Leicester Cross Society and the Royal Highland Agricultural Society.

The image is taken overlooking Polmood Farm the rooftops of which can be seen in the trees to the right of the photograph. The view is facing south with the A710 disappearing into the distance in the direction of the Crook Inn.

03/06/2026

Wellgate, Lanark looking north west. c. 1905

Taken by local firm of photographers, Adam Davidson and Sons this view features in the right foreground the Black Bull Hotel. In addition to being produced as a postcard this view also featured in one of the books published by the company “Souvenir View Album of Lanark and District” which was printed and sold exclusively by D.A.V. Thomson, Bookseller and Stationer, Lanark.

The buildings on the left have noticeably changed with the crow step gable of the house on the corner of Delves Road and Wellgate being replaced with a more modern look with a building having a rounded corner at the junction. All of the buildings from there down to the one with the chimney stack on the front of the roof have been replaced. The building with the “Wines and Spirits” sign was later know to many as McKnight’s chip shop.

02/06/2026

Manse Road, Lanark 1967/68

Built between 1958 and 1962 as council housing for Lanark Town Council. The street did not exist, along with the adjacent and nearby Wheatpark Road and The Glebe prior to 1958. The land it was built on was partially that of Wheatpark House and a plant nursery that was situated between Waterloo Road and the West Port.

The manse it was named after was built in 1855 for the Rev. Alexander McLashan by John and George Muir builders. It was originally called Lanark House but later became Mansefield House. It still stands behind the Mansfield Garage in the West Port.

01/06/2026

Lanark Post Office, St. Leonard Street. 1928.

This new home to Lanark’s Post Office was opened on Thursday 22nd June 1928 and replaced the previous building at the foot of the High Street (No.7). The opening, under the supervision of the Postmaster, Mr James Turner, was carried out by Mrs W. J. Fergus, wife of the Provost, who was presented with a gold key to mark the occasion, with which she opened the door and was first to post a letter from the new location.

The postal authorities had been looking for a new location for some time as they felt that the accommodation in the High Street building was now inadequate. The new premises, in addition to the public office, had a postmaster’s office, a room for the female staff, a room for the messenger boys, the sorting room, lavatories, sheds, yard, a garage, etc. The builder was Messrs. McLehose and the construction cost was £10,000.

The new location did not meet with universal approval of the townsfolk as it was felt that moving it away from the busier centre was a backward step in terms of service. To counter this, a new sub-post office in the West Port was opened and a new post box was installed in a wall at the top of the Castlegate.

29/05/2026

Bonnington Power Station under construction, 1926.

The Clyde Valley Electrical Power Company Ltd was formed in 1901 and initially built and ran coal fired power stations at Motherwell (opened 1906, closed 1930) and Yoker (opened 1905, closed 1976). A third planned facility for Crookston was never built.

Through its subsidiary the Lanarkshire Hydro-Electrical Power Co. Started work on harnessing the falls of Clyde at Bonnington and Stonebyres. Both were built in 1926 and commissioned in 1927. Bonnington was the first to go into production and as such it became the first full scale hydro-electric power station in Scotland.

The station is now owned by the Drax Group and generates 11MW of electricity, enough power to supply approximately 11,000 homes.

28/05/2026

Broomgate, Lanark 1967/68.

Yet another from the survey carried out by Lanark Camera Club on behalf of the Town Council.

Little in the way of buildings has changed with the exception of the one on the extreme left which has new buildings on this site which is currently home to the Broomgate Café, offices and flats.

27/05/2026

Scottish Country Dance Party at Carstairs Junction, May 1957.

Maiden names in brackets.

Back Row l-r Mary Craig; Grace Vernal; Phyllis (Baxter) Whiteford; Beatrice (Harrison) Slider.
Front Row l-r unnamed; Doris (Dunlop) Peacock; Byrnece (Wilson) Gibson; Jean Lunn.

26/05/2026

View across Lanark Loch to the north. 1939

A rather bare looking view compared with that of today where many more trees would be in view. Large areas around the loch in this view have plantings of fairly young conifers that would have later obscured parts of this scene.

The gable and roof on the extreme left are of the Golf Club House building. In the background is the house and works buildings, with chimney, of the oil works. The cottage near the side of the loch was Lochside Cottage which was converted from an engine house used for pumping the water from the loch when it was used as one of Lanark's water supplies. The cottage was still in situ in 1958 but was gone by 1962.

25/05/2026

Steel’s Cross, Lanark 1967/68

Showing the terraced housing at Steel’s Cross with a glimpse of part of the advertising hoarding that stood for many years looking down onto the Cross. a “Lebus” The delivery lorry at the top of the brea was part of the Lebus group which was one of the largest furniture manufacturers in the UK. In the background, and partially behind the van, is Lanark Gas Works.

The place name is often associated with the tale/name of a Covenanter who was either capture or killed at or near this spot however, the place name “Steil Cross” dates to as early as 1567, nearly one hundred years before the Covenanters.

The name remains a bit of a mystery as there is no record of a cross actually being located here, however it may be that it refers to a cross that once stood near the western end of the territory of the burgh. William Roy’s military survey map (1752-1755) shows a cross to the west of the town, north of Baronald (Cartland Bridge Hotel) on the north side of the River Mouse but it, at that time, did not sit at, or near, a road leading to the town as the Cartland Bridge had not yet been built.

Address

29 Bloomgate (YMCA Building)
Lanark
ML119ET

Opening Hours

Friday	11:30am - 4pm
Saturday	11:30am - 4pm

Telephone

+441555666680

Website

https://www.lanarkmuseum.co.uk/

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