The Museum is located in the former church of St Columba, built in 1700, on a spectacular stretch of northern coastline at Clachan, Bettyhill. If you are young or old, or somewhere in between, you can be sure of a welcome from the friendly and enthusiastic staff. Come and explore our traditional museum, join us for a workshop or event, search our archives and collection for the stories and clues to our Highland past, and find a few surprises along the way.

The Croft House area with the Box Bed, top right, is one of our visitors' favourite items.  The 'crux' or roof truss was once the hull of t "The Thorwaldsen", shipwrecked in Strathy in 1838.  It had been recycled as a roof truss in a croft house in Strathy and was retrieved for the museum when the house was being renovated.  The figurehead of the Thorwaldsen can also be seen in the museum. 

The Museum Collection and Displays have developed from a traditional collection of artefacts relating to the domestic and working lives of the people of Strathnaver Province, which covered a much larger area of the North West beyond the river strath of today. This collection continues to be enlarged through generous donations of items and discoveries of archaeological artefacts, adding another dimension to our understanding of the past.

Discoveries are made during the course of daily life such as the Bronze Age burial cist with cremation beaker, which was unearthed by road workers at Chealamay, Strathnaver. The beaker is made of clay and would have held honey or mead (photographed at the site with Higland Council road workers and Highland Region Archaeologist Bob Gourlay). The 'Chealamay' beaker is on display within the museum and the burial cist has been reconstructed in the cemetery by the front door.

The "Dogskin Buoy" (photo bottom right) is probably our most intriguing artefact.  Along with a boot (also in the museum) it was found in the wall of a house in Melness while it was being renovated.  It probably dates from the 19th century.  Along with the "St Kilda Mail Boat" (also in the museum) it was featured in the Antiques Roadshow's visit to the Castle of Mey.

The room is dominated by the massive pulpit erected in 1774, emblazoned with the initials of the Rev George Munro. It was here from the pulpit that David Mackenzie was obliged to read out the eviction notices in 1819 and more happily it was here that people from all over north Sutherland assembled in 1883 to testify before Lord Napier and his colleagues in a Parliamentary Commission. Their subsequent report was accepted by Parliament and led to substantial improvements in the conditions of crofters and other small tenants.

Leading from the Main Room is an Implement Room which houses a selection of peat cutting tools, early laundry items and early farm implements.  Also in this room are a set of tombstones and on the floor among these are two small Early Christian monuments unearthed by Kevin O'Reilly at Grumbeg, Strathnaver. These stones are certainly older than the Farr Stone. They probably date back to 750 AD or even earlier. 

Outside can be seen the Pictish ‘Farr Stone' (shown on your left) a prominent rectangular slab which stands in a vertical position a few yards west of the church. The basic design is a ringed cross, but this has been elaborated with decorated panels, blended with great skill to produce a harmonious whole. It probably dates from between 800 and 850 AD. Despite local tradition there is no mystery about its origin. It probably marks the grave of some important, local, religious or political personage. The three small rough stones which stand nearby are certainly gravestones and may well be of the same age.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Links to other museums and heritage centres

Dunbeath Heritage Centre
Timespan
Tarbat Discovery Centre
Laidhay Preservation Trust
National Museums Scotland
Historic Scotland
Ullapool Museum
Orkney Museum
Westray Heritage Centre

The Croft House area and Box Bed

Roadmen and archaeologtist Bob Gourlay at the roadside at Chelmay, Strathnaver

Dogskin Buoy

Farr Stone