Tain & District Museum and Clan Ross Centre

Tain & District Museum and Clan Ross Centre Local museum with artefacts, photographs and information covering the Easter Ross area. Meeting place for Rosses from around the world.

๐ŸŽฌ ๐“๐š๐ข๐ง ๐Œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐…๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ŸŽฌAs we have our large projector screen set up ahead of Saturday's film event, we will be screening a...
03/06/2026

๐ŸŽฌ ๐“๐š๐ข๐ง ๐Œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐…๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ŸŽฌ

As we have our large projector screen set up ahead of Saturday's film event, we will be screening a selection of historic films from the Tain & District Museum collection tomorrow.

The films will be shown throughout the day in the Collegiate Church.

๐€๐ฅ๐ž๐ฑ๐š๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ ๐‘๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐‚๐จ๐ฉ๐ž๐ง๐ก๐š๐ ๐ž๐งThis portrait shows Alexander Ross of Kindeace, later a merchant in Copenhagen, whose descen...
28/05/2026

๐€๐ฅ๐ž๐ฑ๐š๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ ๐‘๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐‚๐จ๐ฉ๐ž๐ง๐ก๐š๐ ๐ž๐ง

This portrait shows Alexander Ross of Kindeace, later a merchant in Copenhagen, whose descendants spread across Denmark and Norway. Over the years, the museum has welcomed several families descended from Alexander, many of whom travelled to Tain and Easter Ross to reconnect with their Ross roots.

One family generously sent us a fascinating book on Danish families, which included this portrait of Alexander himself โ€” a rare surviving image linking the Highlands of Scotland with the merchant world of seventeenth-century Scandinavia.

Alongside the portrait is part of the Kindeace family tree, tracing Alexanderโ€™s descent from the Rosses of Pitcalnie and Balnagown. The document reflects the wide-reaching connections of Highland families, whose stories often extended far beyond Scotland through trade, military service, and migration.

It is always remarkable to see how the history of Easter Ross continued far beyond the Highlands, carried overseas by families who still remember where they came from centuries later.

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜€Tain & District Museum & Clan Ross Centre would like to thank Bannerman Seafoods for gene...
27/05/2026

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜€

Tain & District Museum & Clan Ross Centre would like to thank Bannerman Seafoods for generously sponsoring one of our exhibition cases for the 2026 season.

As an independent museum and charity, support from local businesses helps us care for our collections, share the history of Tain and Easter Ross, and welcome thousands of visitors each year.

We are extremely grateful for their support and commitment to preserving and promoting our local heritage.

Thank you for helping to keep the stories of our community alive.

26/05/2026

๐ŸŽฌ ๐“๐€๐ˆ๐ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ—๐Ÿ”๐Ÿ” ๐‘๐„๐“๐”๐‘๐๐’ ๐“๐Ž ๐“๐‡๐„ ๐๐ˆ๐† ๐’๐‚๐‘๐„๐„๐

Sixty years ago, on 6 June 1966, Tain celebrated its 900th anniversary with a remarkable day of events, including the opening of the Rose Gardens by the Queen Mother and the opening of Tain Museum.

On Saturday 6 June 2026, along with the Tain and Easter Ross Civic Trust, we will be screening the original film of those celebrations at St Duthus Collegiate Church, allowing many local people to see themselves, their families and friends on screen once again.

The event will also include displays of photographs and memorabilia connected with the 1966 celebrations.

๐Ÿ“ St Duthus Collegiate Church, Tain
๐Ÿ•› Film screenings from 12 noonโ€“3pm
๐Ÿ› Museum open 11amโ€“3pm
๐ŸŽŸ Free admission (donations welcome)

If you or your family took part in the 1966 celebrations, we'd love to see you there.

๐Œ๐ซ ๐‘๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ, ๐‹๐ž๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐งWhile researching the identity of the gentleman in this photograph, labelled simply "Mr Ross, Ledston", ...
22/05/2026

๐Œ๐ซ ๐‘๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ, ๐‹๐ž๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ง

While researching the identity of the gentleman in this photograph, labelled simply "Mr Ross, Ledston", I discovered he was almost certainly John MacGilchrist Ross (1832โ€“1915), also known as Ross of Teaninich Distillery.

Born at Balblair, Edderton, and educated at Tain Academy, Ross became one of Ross-shire's leading distillers. He was also a prominent supporter of the Highland Land League and was described by Joseph MacLeod in Highland Heroes of the Land Reform Movement as "A Teaninich Hero" for his advocacy of crofter land reform.

A successful distiller, farmer and businessman, Ross used his influence as President of the Ross-shire Liberal Association to support the cause of land reform throughout the Highlands.

On this day in 1910, Tain marked the ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐Š๐ข๐ง๐  ๐„๐๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐•๐ˆ๐ˆ with a large public procession and memorial services acr...
20/05/2026

On this day in 1910, Tain marked the ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐Š๐ข๐ง๐  ๐„๐๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐•๐ˆ๐ˆ with a large public procession and memorial services across the town.

Local newspaper reports describe businesses closing and โ€œthe town wore the aspect of a Sundayโ€ as a procession formed at 12.30 pm outside the Courthouse. Schoolchildren from the Public School and Academy marched alongside the Tain troop of Boy Scouts, the 4th Seaforth Territorial Band, members of the Town and Parish Councils, the St Duthus Lodge of Freemasons, and the Oddfellows.

The procession made its way to the Parish Church, where the Dead March was played and a memorial service held before the procession re-formed and returned through the town. A separate memorial service also took place at St Andrewโ€™s Episcopal Church.

These remarkable photographs from the collections of Tain & District Museum & Clan Ross Centre capture that extraordinary day of mourning in Edwardian Tain over 115 years ago.

๐“๐‘๐€ ๐Œ๐š๐ ๐š๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ, ๐‡๐ž๐ฅ๐ฉOn Saturday, Sian Mackenzie and I attended the Tain Royal Academy Open Day ahead of the schoolโ€™s clos...
19/05/2026

๐“๐‘๐€ ๐Œ๐š๐ ๐š๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ, ๐‡๐ž๐ฅ๐ฉ

On Saturday, Sian Mackenzie and I attended the Tain Royal Academy Open Day ahead of the schoolโ€™s closure next month. We took along some spare copies of old Tain Royal Academy School Magazines to give away, and they proved very popular, full of wonderful social history, photographs, memories of former pupils, and silly poems.

A big thank you to Sian Mackenzie, who has done a huge amount of work collecting and digitising the magazines.

Thanks to her, we are now only missing a few years to complete the collection: 1970, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989 and 1994.
If anyone has copies they would be willing to donate or loan for scanning, please get in touch with the museum.

๐“๐จ๐ฆ๐›๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ง๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐“๐š๐ซ๐›๐š๐ญThe Tain & Easter Ross Civic Trust is delighted to host a talk by Jim Mackay of the Kirkmichael Trus...
14/05/2026

๐“๐จ๐ฆ๐›๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ง๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐“๐š๐ซ๐›๐š๐ญ

The Tain & Easter Ross Civic Trust is delighted to host a talk by Jim Mackay of the Kirkmichael Trust on the remarkable tombstones and grave slabs of Tarbat.

๐’๐œ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐‚๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐Œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐†๐ŽAfter 57 years at Scotsburn Road, the old Tain Royal Academy building is preparing to ...
13/05/2026

๐’๐œ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐‚๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐Œ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐†๐Ž

After 57 years at Scotsburn Road, the old Tain Royal Academy building is preparing to close its doors for the final time.

As a former pupil, I plan to attend and have a look around. I will also take along copies of old school photographs and a selection of school magazines from the museum archives to share.

If you have memories of the old TRA, it should be a very special afternoon and well worth a visit.

Address

Tower Street
Tain
IV191DY

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

01862894089

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Tain & District Museum and Clan Ross Centre posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Museum

Send a message to Tain & District Museum and Clan Ross Centre:

Share

Category