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Welcome to Dalbeattie Museum.

VE Day 80

Thursday 8th May will mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day and the ending of the conflict in Europe.

The Royal British Legion Scotland have arranged a number of events to be held in Dalbeattie to commemorate VE Day:

• 6:30pm    Multi faith remembrance service at the war memorial, Colliston Park 
•                  Unveiling of a memorial granite plaque
•                  Vintage military vehicles and RBLS biker branch
• 9:30pm    Beacon lighting and fireworks on Craignair

Dalbeattie Museum is now open

11am to 4pm (last entry 3:30pm)

Monday to Saturday until 31st October 2025.

Dalbeattie is a small town in Dumfries and Galloway, situated in a wooded valley at the confluence of the River Urr  and Barr burn, 4 miles (6 km) east of Castle Douglas and 12 miles (19 km) south west of Dumfries. Over the years the town has been famous for its granite industry and for being the home town of William McMaster Murdoch, the First Officer of the RMS Titanic and William Heughan, born in Water Street and became a world renowned opera singer.

The origins of Dalbeattie go back to 1781 when George Maxwell of Munches and Alexander Copeland of Colliston decided to encourage the development of the town by feuing their property. The Maxwells owned the land on the north side of the burn and the Copelands owned the land on the south side.

A bridge was built over River Urr at Craignair in 1797. The rapid expansion of the granite and other industries in the town attracted many people to settle in Dalbeattie.

The waters of the Barr burn has been used to power many industries over the years, such as agricultural mills, bobbin and paper mills. Where the Barr burn met the River Urr was the port of Dalbeattie, the "Dub o'Haas".

Dalbeattie Museum opened in 1993 to provide;

• The advancement of education of the public in the history of Dalbeattie
• The advancement of the arts, heritage,culture or science
• To extend, enhance and maintain a collection of social historic materials; preserve and restore other materials for the purpose of public display

Over more than thirty years a small team of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers have run and manned the museum. We receive no local or central government funding and rely on the kind donations of our visitors to pay the daily running costs and maintenance of the building.

The museum is jam packed with many exhibits:

• Period Shop
• Victorian Kitchen
• RMS Titanic
• Dalbeattie Granite Industry
• Cameras
• World War I & II
• Automotive
• Costumes and Dolls
• Tools and Scientific Instruments
• Medical
• Curios from a bygone era
• and much, much more.

 Come and see "what your granny (or grandpa) would have used".