Dumfries Museum

Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura
Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura
	Exterior view of the Camera Obscura
	Wikimedia \| © OpenStreetMap
General information
Architectural style	Victorian and modern
Town or city	Dumfries
Country	Scotland
Coordinates	55°03′55″N 3°36′53″W / 55.0652°N 3.6146°WCoordinates: 55°03′55″N 3°36′53″W / 55.0652°N 3.6146°W
Renovated	2011

Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura, located in Dumfries in Dumfries & Galloway, is the largest museum in the region. The museum has extensive collections relating to local and history from the pre-historic era. The museum also has the world's oldest working Camera Obscura. Admission is free, however a small fee applies for the Camera Obscura.

Collections[]

The museum's collections cover all material relating to the natural history and human pre-history of the region, from geology to dress, folk material, archaeology and early photographs.^[1]

Notable artefacts include:

A cast of the skull of Robert the Bruce as well as femur and foot bones.^[2]
A Bronze Age cist burial including the remains of a 35-year-old man from the beaker people.^[3]
A large collection of Roman and Celtic stone crosses and funerary monuments.^[4]^[5]
A replica of the first bicycle, as designed by Kirkpatrick Macmillan.^[6]
The photographic archive of Dr Werner Kissling.^[7]
Personal items belonging to Thomas Carlyle^[8]
Fossil reptile tracks from the local Permian sandstone including Corncockle Quarry.^[9]

History[]

Originally built as a four-storey windmill on Corbelly hill, the highest point in Maxwelltown, in 1798, the site was purchased by Dumfries and Maxwellton Astronomical Society in 1834.^[10] Over a two-year period the tower was converted into an Observatory,^[11] and with advice from polar explorer Sir John Ross, a telescope was purchased from a Mr Morton of Kilmarnock. With its completion in 1836, unfortunately the observatory missed the arrival of Halley's comet; however, it was used in this role until 1872.

The main hall of the museum was built in 1862, and housed the collections of the newly founded Dumfries and Galloway Natural History & Antiquarian Society. In 1981 a major addition of a new gallery, shop, search room and offices for curatorial staff was added. In 2011 the exterior of the windmill tower was refurbished.^[12]

Camera Obscura[]

The camera obscura is currently the oldest working example in the world, and has been in continuous operation since 1836.^[13] The instrument, based in the top level of the windmill tower, offers a complete 360° panorama of the surrounding landscape. The image is projected onto a focusing table below, and operated using a simple rope mechanism.^[14] In order to protect the instrument it is only operated during the summer months and on days when weather conditions are clear.^[15]

References[]

The focus table of the camera obscura with an image of part of Dumfries projected onto it

External links[]

Dumfries Museum at Dumfries and Galloway Council website
Dumfries Museum on Future Museum

[1] ttp://www.futuremuseum.co.uk/about/partner-museums/a-z-list-of-partners/dumfries-museum-camera-obscura.aspx

[2] ttp://www.futuremuseum.co.uk/collections/people/lives-in-key-periods/the-medieval-period-(1100ad-1499ad)/wars-of-independence/robert-(i)-the-bruce/robert-the-bruce,-cast-of-his-skull.aspx

[3] ttp://www.futuremuseum.co.uk/collections/people/lives-in-key-periods/archaeology/the-bronze-age/ritual/cist-burial,-mainsriddle,-colvend-and-southwick.aspx

[4] ttp://www.futuremuseum.co.uk/collections/people/lives-in-key-periods/archaeology/roman/ritual-and-religion.aspx

[5] ttp://www.futuremuseum.co.uk/collections/people/lives-in-key-periods/archaeology/early-medieval-(400ad-1099ad)/early-christians.aspx

[6] ttp://www.futuremuseum.co.uk/collections/people/key-people/science-invention/kirkpatrick-macmillan/replica-of-kirkpatrick-macmillans-bicycle.aspx

[7] ttp://www.futuremuseum.co.uk/collections/people/key-people/collectors-explorers/dr-werner-kissling.aspx

[8] ttp://www.futuremuseum.co.uk/collections/people/key-people/writers-poets/thomas-carlyle.aspx

[9] Jardine, Sir William (1853). The Ichnology of Annandale or Illustrations of Footmarks Impressed on the New Red Sandstone of Corncockle Muir.

[10] ttp://www.nothingtoseehere.net/2010/06/dumfries_camera_obscura_dumfri.html

[11] ttp://www.electricscotland.com/history/dumfries/history60.htm

[12] ttp://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/dumfries/museum/

[13] ttps://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/dumfries-museum-and-camera-obscura-p251151

[14] ttp://www.nothingtoseehere.net/2010/06/dumfries_camera_obscura_dumfri.html

[15] ttp://www.dumgal.gov.uk/article/15737/Dumfries-Museum-and-Camera-Obscura

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