Brander Museum

Brander Museum

The Brander Museum in Huntly holds varied collections of local memorabilia, from the textile industry to communion tokens, and from archaeological finds to armour.

The main focus of the museum collection is firearms, including both native British and foreign arms, including daggers, shot, powder flasks, swords, and several pieces of plate armour. Other artefacts include archaeological objects of national importance, plus civic regalia, and a wealth of displays covering the heritage of the textile industry in Huntly.

Another display looks at the life and career of local Huntly author and poet George MacDonald (1824-1905), a pioneer in the field of fantasy fiction whose works heavily influenced writers like Tolkein, Madeleine L'Engle, and CS Lewis. Perhaps his most popular novel among modern audiences is The Princess and the Goblin.

The museum is located in the local library on The Square.

NOTE ... NOTE ... NOTE
Due to staff shortages and lack of funding the museum has temporarily closed. All the exhibits are still intact but there is no funding to reopen the museum at the moment. The community is working behind the scenes to create a new space in the town square and hope to be able to open a much-improved museum in due course. We will update this page as soon as events unfold. In the meantime, don't make plans to visit!

UPDATE
Some objects from the museum remain in the Brander Building, while others are preserved in controlled storage at Mintlaw. The Huntly Community Council has held public meetings to explore the possibility of installing interactive exhibits across multiple locations around Huntly, rather than trying to reopen the Brander Museum in its former home. As always, we will update this article when the situation changes.