Shambellie House: Trust takes control of former costume museum

Scotland's former national museum of costume has been handed over to a trust hoping to turn it into a centre showcasing rural creative arts.

Shambellie House near Dumfries closed in 2013 and its contents were transferred to Edinburgh.

A trust was set up two years later to find a new life for the building after a campaign to keep it open failed.

The Scottish government has now handed over the keys to the Shambellie House Trust (SHT).

It is also providing funding to carry out repairs to both the house and lodge.

The closure of the museum - which had been open to the public for decades - was announced in 2013 following consultation.

National Museums Scotland said it had taken the decision with "great regret" despite a cross-party campaign to keep the facility open.

The building was owned by the Scottish government but it has now agreed to transfer it to the local trust.

Culture Minister Jenny Gilruth thanked the SHT for all its hard work in getting to this point.

"The plans provided by the trust are exciting: there is the potential for tremendous benefit to the local and regional communities economically, culturally and educationally," she said.

"I wish them every success."

Original plans would have seen accommodation and an extension built but a review of the impact of Covid has seen first phase work scaled back.

It is hoped a range of courses delivered by artists, makers and photographers can begin in January.

The trust has received support from a range of organisations including South of Scotland Enterprise.

Gordon Mann, who chairs the SHT, said it had worked hard over the years to bring the building back under local ownership.

He said the trust would continue to raise funds to ensure it could offer a "great experience" in the house and its grounds near New Abbey.

"We will now start on the repairs and improvements to the house and lodge so that some courses will be ready for delivery early in 2022, courses which will provide a welcome boost for the local creative sector which has suffered so much in the pandemic," he said.