Come and discover our collection in Am Fasgadh with one of our knowledgeable tour guides. Tours last approx. an hour and we welcome donations. You can book in person at the museum, call 01349 781650 or e-mail [email protected]
Even through the winter, Am Fasgadh is available for group visits – please check our Winter Tours page for full details.
‘Am Fasgadh’ is the Museum’s collection facility incorporating collections storage and conservation; resources including collections study and research library; administration including offices and meeting spaces. Its primary function is to house the Museum’s core collections numbering approx. 12,000 items. Tours will take you around the main collection store, whilst access to other parts of the building is by appointment.
Am Fasgadh
The name ‘Am Fasgadh’, Gaelic for ‘the shelter’, is continued from founder Isabel Grant’s original name for the museum; building on her philosophy that the museum she started on the Island of Iona in 1935 was a safe haven for her collection.
IF Grant in Am Fasgadh on Iona
The collection today represents the rich and varied material and non-material culture from the geographically large area of the Highlands and Islands from the 17th century to recent times. The emphasis is on rural and domestic life, where representation is through groups of unique, vernacular artefacts including ‘domestic life’ from bakestones to box beds, ‘agricultural’ from subsistence farming through to developed mechanised farming, ‘crafts and trades’ from early wooden looms through to ‘travellers’ items and whisky distilling and ‘vernacular architecture’ from 18th century timber frames to 20th century community kit buildings.
Our collection of curling stones
In 2015 the Museum was awarded Recognised status in respect of the Entire Holdings. Owned and funded by the Scottish Government, the Recognition Scheme formally recognises and invests in outstanding and irreplaceable collections of national significance in non-national museums and galleries in Scotland.
Access to the research library and other parts of the collection is by appointment throughout the year. Please call 01349 781650 or e-mail [email protected] for enquiries and bookings.
