Burns Museum is place of inspiration

Jan 2 2009 by Yonnie McInnes

THE NATIONAL Trust for Scotland will spend £21m in making Alloway “a place of inspiration for every visitor.”

At the centre of these plans is the new museum – Robert Burns Birthplace Museum.

This will become the collective name for not only the museum itself but for the Burns Monument, Brig o’ Doon, Auld Kirk Alloway, Burns Cottage and smallholding, and the walkway which links all of these sites, replacing its present name of Burns National Heritage Park.

After the first sod is ceremoniously cut this month, Robert Burns Birthplace Museum will be built on the present car park site of the Tam O’ Shanter Experience, which will continue to operate during the building phase.

The key destination for many is Burns Cottage and this will be the first site to be redeveloped.

A new entrance to Burns Cottage will be created in its existing car park so that visitors approach the cottage from the rear.

Sensitive landscaping will allow views of the full extent of the smallholding cultivated by the Burns family, adding to the focus on the 1760s.

The existing adjacent museum building will be renovated to become an education centre with a research library, which, revealed curator David Hopes, will give the public controlled access to 1100 Victorian edition books on the works of Burns. There will also be a shop.

The main aim at Burns Cottage is to transport the visitor back to the mid 18th century.

David said: “The reinterpretation of the cottage is certainly a departure for the trust in terms of the interpretive focus and the use of technology in a historic property.

“However, by using period furniture, subtle lighting and audio, and a number of creative installations, we will aim to emphasise how living in the cottage may have inspired the young Burns.”