Annan Museum

About the museum

The museum's collection began with a small group of local objects and paintings gathered by Annan Rotary Club. In 1955 Annan Town Council took responsibility for it and kept it in a room of Annan Library on Bank Street. Later it was moved between several places and spent a period in the care of Dumfries Museum.

The museum now occupies the former library building in Bank Street, designed by the Edinburgh architect George Washington Brown and paid for largely by a donation from Andrew Carnegie. Lord Loreburn, the Lord Chancellor, opened it in 1906, and it is a Grade B listed building. In the early 1990s the library was converted into a museum with display spaces on the ground and first floors.

The collection covers the archaeology and history of the area, with finds from southwest Scotland, material from the Roman fort at Birrens, memorabilia of the town's Riding of the Marches, and items linked to Robert Burns, who worked in Annan as an excise officer, and to Thomas Carlyle.

The building was closed for all of 2025 for capital works that included essential repairs and a new lift, funded by Museums Galleries Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway Council. The museum reopened in April 2026 with new ground-floor displays about Annan and its status as a Royal Burgh. The first-floor galleries are due to reopen on 1 April 2027.

Highlights

• New ground-floor displays on Annan and its Royal Burgh status
• Riding of the Marches display with a large wooden horse
• Footage and a column from the Jubilee Bridge flood story
• Kids' corner with dressing up and family activity trails
• Free entry in a Carnegie library building from 1906

Permanent exhibitions

• Annan and its Royal Burgh – New ground-floor displays on the town, including the Riding of the Marches, the Jubilee Bridge flood and the Provost of Annan's chain.
• Annandale and Eskdale local history gallery – The first-floor local history gallery, currently closed and due to reopen on 1 April 2027.

Operated by

Dumfries and Galloway Council

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission is free.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The entrance is reached from Bank Street up a gentle slope and has a power-assisted door that opens at the push of a large pad. Reception and the ground-floor gallery have level access, and the first floor is reached by a 30-step staircase or a lift. A ramp leads to a disabled toilet in an adjoining building, and staff can help visitors reach it; other public toilets are on the parallel street. Films in the displays have subtitles, and staff have basic deafness and diversity awareness training. Only assistance dogs are allowed inside.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations

Children are always welcome. Activity trails help families find curiosities in the displays, and a kids' corner on the ground floor has dressing up, colouring sheets and activities. Family crafts have run on Tuesdays during school holidays.

Getting there & parking

The museum is in the town centre, just off the High Street.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

A small shop sells low-cost gifts, including pocket-money items for children.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit