Photo: JThomas · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Arbuthnot Museum

Carnegie-funded museum and former library in Peterhead, built in pink granite in 1893 and currently closed to visitors.

Temporarily closed

Temporarily closed. The museum is closed to visitors and its building has been cleared. The council has said it will not carry out the planned refurbishment for now and will look for new funding and a future use for the building. A new Museum of Aberdeenshire is planned on Broad Street, Peterhead, and is expected to open in late 2028.

About the museum

The Arbuthnot Museum is named after Adam Arbuthnot, a Peterhead merchant who died in 1850 and left his personal possessions to the town. The objects were kept in several private houses for decades until a suitable building could be provided.

In 1889 three local men asked the American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to help fund a public library. He offered the final £1,000, on condition that the town adopted the Free Library Act and raised the rest of the money. Carnegie's wife, Louise, laid the foundation stone on 8 August 1891.

The building was designed by the Aberdeen architect Duncan McMillan in English Renaissance style and built from pink Peterhead granite between 1891 and 1893. It has two storeys and a clock tower about 73 feet high, and it is listed as a Category C building. The library and museum opened together on 12 October 1893, which makes it one of the earliest Carnegie libraries in the world.

The building belongs to Aberdeenshire Council and is currently cleared and closed. The council plans a new Museum of Aberdeenshire and Peterhead Library on Broad Street, expected to open in late 2028.