Aberdeen Maritime Museum

Aberdeen Maritime Museum

Aberdeen Maritime Museum
Shiprow
Aberdeen
Aberdeenshire
Scotland
AB11 5BY

Tel: 01224 337 700
Fax: 01224 213 066
E-Mail: info@aagm.co.uk

Web: Aberdeen Maritime Museum

About Aberdeen Maritime Museum

Aberdeen Maritime Museum tells the story of the city's long relationship with the Sea.

This award-winning museum is located on the historic Shiprow and incorporates Provost Ross's House, which was built in 1593. The Maritime Museum houses a unique collection covering shipbuilding, fast sailing ships, fishing and port history.

It is also the only place in the UK where you can see displays on the North Sea oil and gas industry. Aberdeen Maritime Museum offers visitors a spectacular viewpoint over the busy harbour.

About Aberdeen Maritime Museum

Telling the fascinating story of the North Sea through fantastic new exhibitions, interactive displays and multi-media presentations, Aberdeen Maritime Museum is acknowledged as one of the finest visitor attractions in Scotland.

Following a multi-million pound expansion and refurbishment in 1997, the museum has five times the exhibition space of the original museum which was based in the 16th century Provost Ross's House.

Aberdeen's excellent collections of maritime paintings and objects are utilised to the full in the new museum, with touch screen consoles, computer visual databases, education room and hands-on exhibits all adding a new dimension for visitors and bringing the drama of the North Sea industries such as offshore oil, fishing and shipping, to life.

The complex is open six days a week with a busy programme of special exhibitions and events throughout the year. The licensed Leading Lights Café - an attraction in itself - offers fine food in splendid surroundings and a first class shop sells a wide range or souvenirs, gifts, crafts, books and music with a distinctly nautical flavour.

History of Aberdeen Maritime Museum

Provost Ross' House on the Shiprow was built in 1593 by master-mason Andrew Jamieson and later extended to the south in 1710. It became the residence of Provost John Ross of Arnage in 1702 who was a ship owner.

During the 19th century the building was divided into tenements and then eventually was reduced to a derelict condition by 1950. The House was acquired by the National Trust for Scotland and then leased to Aberdeen City Council in 1984 when it became the Aberdeen Maritime Museum.

The maritime collections predated the establishment of the Museum by many decades. Indeed the first acquisition was the model of the steam ship S.S. Thermopylae in 1892. The maritime section of the Aberdeen Art Gallery and Regional Museum grew during the 20th century principally in the subject areas of fishing, shipbuilding and harbour development. During the 1970s the collection was exhibited in the Cowdray Hall basement and collecting in the field of North Sea oil and gas began.

Within a few years of the opening of the Museum in Provost Ross's House the Council purchased the Trinity Congregational Church with a view to converting this 1877 building into a major extension to the Museum. Architects, museum designers and curators worked over a five year period to develop the exhibitions and design the services that would culminate in the opening of the new Museum in May 1997.