This weekend, the Scottish Maritime Museum on Irvine Harbourside celebrates 35 years since the iconic, Grade A Listed Linthouse building was relocated to Irvine to house Scotland’s national maritime collection.
To mark the anniversary, visitors are invited to come along during the three-day birthday weekend, from Saturday to Monday (19 – 21 September), and benefit from a special 35% discount off admission. Up to three children also go free with each ticket as usual, giving everyone the perfect opportunity to explore Scotland’s national maritime collection and marvel at the spectacular Linthouse. There will be plenty for families to enjoy too with trails and colouring-in activities for younger visitors. The Linthouse Coffee Bar will also serve a hot drink and a cake/biscuit for just £5.
A magnificent ‘cathedral of engineering’ supported by huge iron girders and filled with natural light, the Linthouse was originally built in 1872 as an engine shop for Alexander Stephens and Sons Shipyard in Govan. Dismantled in 1988, it was carefully relocated and rebuilt in Irvine with construction completed on 21 September 1991.
Announcing the birthday celebrations, Matthew Bellhouse Moran, Executive Director of the Scottish Maritime Museum, says: “We’re delighted to invite everyone to help celebrate our birthday weekend. The Linthouse stands at the heart of our amazing national maritime collection. A stunning ‘cathedral of engineering’, this former shipyard building is a Grade A Victorian masterpiece and the perfect backdrop for our exhibits and the stories of inventors, engineers and sailors who helped influence shipbuilding across the world.
“Thanks to the support of the Scottish Government, Museums Galleries Scotland and our other funders, the Linthouse has been lovingly stewarded since 1991. Improvements and enhancements have included a vital £1.25 million restoration of the roof, which features some 2,100 glass panes. Made possible by the Scottish Government in 2013, the restoration helped secure the future of this remarkable building and also included new interpretation across the site.
“Since then, we’ve added exhibits and expanded the reception area giving us greater flexibility for delivering and hosting events and accommodating larger school groups. More recently, the new Linthouse Coffee Bar was made possible by fairtrade business Coffee Conscience from Clydebank which kindly donated the bar. Thanks to funding from Museums Galleries Scotland, the Linthouse doors, which are the largest wooden doors in Scotland, originally designed for huge ships engines the size of houses, are being repaired and restored this Autumn.
“We hope as many people as possible can pop along over the long weekend and celebrate with us. With up to three kids getting free entry with each adult and concession ticket too, it promises to be a great day out!”
The Scottish Maritime Museum began life in the early 1980s when an enthusiast group, the West of Scotland Boat Museum Association, embraced a vision to establish a maritime collection and open it to the public in Irvine, a harbourside with a rich shipbuilding tradition. The Association became a charity and, with funding from the former Irvine Development Company, which was investing in revitalising the Harbourside at the time, developed plans to open the Scottish Maritime Museum. The Museum opened in 1983 housed in the Boatshop building on the Harbourside which is, today, home to the Museum’s Gift Shop, new Community Gallery and Puffers Café.
In the late 1980s, the Museum saw an opportunity in the A Listed former Engine Shop of Alexander Stephen and Sons in Govan, Glasgow. The stunning Victorian red brick and iron building of 1872 was salvaged and relocated sensitively to Irvine. In 1991, the Linthouse became the permanent home of the Scottish Maritime Museum.
Today, the Scottish Maritime Museum is home to Scotland’s nationally recognised collection of maritime heritage and a national maritime art collection. The collection includes some of Scotland’s most historic vessels, the country’s largest collection of shipbuilding tools as well as engineering and inventions which influenced maritime history across the world.
Vessels include MV Kyles, the oldest Clyde-built vessel still afloat in the UK and recognised as one of Britain’s most important historic vessels; MV Spartan, the only surviving Scottish-built ‘puffer’ in Scotland; and SY Carola, possibly the world’s oldest seagoing steam yacht.
The Museum also features a second collection in Dumbarton. Located on the site of the innovative, Victorian, William Denny Shipyard, it features the world’s first commercial ship model experiment tank, the Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank.
