Listing Type: Museum

Prestonpans Jacobite Museum

The Battle of Prestonpans was the first battle of the 1745 Jacobite Rising, fought on 20-21 September. The museum is based in the former town hall building, and is run by the Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust. It displays a diorama of the battlefield, artefacts relating to the battle and its participants, artworks illustrating the event, and sections of the famous Prestonpans Tapestry. There is also a temporary exhibitions gallery, and a popular programme of events and educational visits.

Access

Open at weekends, 11am-4pm. Free entry; donations welcome. Visits and group tours can be arranged during the week by appointment.

Website

https://www.battleofprestonpans1745.org/town-hall-museum/

Contact

museum@battleofprestonpans1745.org

01875 819922

Highland Folk Museum, Newtonmore

Britain's first open-air museum. The site has a large collection of re-located historic buildings. One of its four themed areas is ‘Baile Gean’ the Museum’s unique re-construction of an early 1700s Highland township of a type that would have been very familiar to Highland Jacobites.

Access

Seasonal opening from April. Please check opening hours.

Website

https://www.highlifehighland.com/highlandfolkmuseum/

Contact

tel: 01349 781650
Email:highland.folk@highlifehighland.com

Area of interest
1715 1745 Clans

Saint-Brévin-Les Pins – Port of Mindin

The anchorage point located east of the head of Mindin was the starting point of the Du Teillay in the morning of 2 July 1745 (N.S.), according to the log of Captain Claude Durbé. The light frigate or sloop was to take Prince Charles Edward Stuart to the bay of Bonne Anse located a few miles west of Saint-Nazaire and embark Prince Charles Edward Stuart on the evening of 2 July to take him to Belle-Ile, then the west of Scotland for the start of the Jacobite uprising. West of the anchorage located at the foot of the river bridge is also the location of an ancient fort dating to 1861 that now hosts the Maritime Museum of the River Loire, a museum dedicated to the history of the navigation on the river. This location provides some pleasant beach walks along the south bank of the river Loire with some interesting views on the shipyards of Saint-Nazaire on the north bank of the Estuary.

Access

Free parking. Museum opening hours.

Website

https://museemarinemindin.com

Contact

https://museemarinemindin.com/contact/. Tel: 00 33 2 40 27 00 64.

Saint-Georges-sur-Loire – Castle of Serrant

Located in Anjou, 50 miles east of Nantes, the Castle of Serrant was the residence acquired by the Walsh family in 1748 after the failure of the last Jacobite rebellion. Antoine Walsh was a fervent Jacobite who provided Prince Charles Edward Stuart with a ship bound for Scotland, the Du Teillay on 3 July 1745 (N.S.) and helped to procure weapons, ammunition and supplies for his quest. Antoine Walsh himself accompanied the Prince to Scotland, his ship laying anchor in Loch Nan Uamh on 25 July 1745 (O.S.). On 7 August 1745 (O.S.), the Prince handed over several letters to Antoine Walsh before the departure of the Du Teillay on 8 August. After Prince Charles Edward Stuart was rescued and brought back to Brittany in October 1746, the Walsh family commissioned a large painting in 1755 portraying Antoine Walsh receiving those very letters from the Prince on the shore of Borrodale in Loch Nan Uamh, in the Moidart area of Lochaber, in the Scottish Highlands. The painting was commissioned to commemorate Antoine Walsh’s unflinching support to Prince Charles Eduard Stuart. The Walsh family had the painting especially framed with the arms of England, Scotland, and Ireland as a tribute to the Stuart dynasty. The large painting, which has been registered with the French Monuments Historiques since 2019 can still be seen today above the fireplace of the magnificent library of the Castle of Serrant.

Access

Opening hours for guided tours. Request the library as a supplement to the guided tour to admire the painting of Prince Charles Stuart and Antoine Walsh.

Website

https://www.chateau-serrant.net

Contact

https://www.chateau-serrant.net/en/contact-chateau-de-serrant. Tel: 00 33 (0)2 41 39 13 01

Blairs Museum, Aberdeen

A museum of Scottish catholic history with important collections from the former Scots Colleges throughout Europe. The significant collection of Jacobite items includes many portraits.

Access

Opening hours (seasonal). Admission charge.

Website

https://www.blairsmuseum.com/

Contact

Tel: 01224 863 767
Email: curator@blairsmuseum.org.uk
Web: www.blairsmuseum.com/contact-us/

Elgin Museum

Scotland's Oldest Independent Museum (1843). Has a number of items with Jacobite links including an 18th century travelling cutlery set owned by Robertson of Struan, one of the Jacobite commanders in the Forty-Five, Jacobite era Highland weapons, items that are said to have been found on the Culloden battlefield, and a cup said to belong to Flora Macdonald.

Access

Opening hours (seasonal). Admission free.

Website

https://elginmuseum.org.uk/

Contact

email: curator@elginmuseum.org.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1343 543675

Area of interest
1745 Collection

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery opened to the public in 1889 as the world’s first purpose-built portrait gallery. Its collections contain images of all the major characters who took part in the the Jacobite Risings and the Government response. Room 4 is currently displaying 'Imaging Power: The Visual Culture of the Jacobite Cause'. The collection includes several very good portraits and miniatures of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, James VIII and III, Prince Henry/Cardinal York, Viscount Dundee, James Drummond, third Duke of Perth, and Flora Macdonald. There are also collections of Jacobite glasses and Jacobite medals. Please check current exhibitions before visiting as these do change.

Access

Opening hours. Admission free. Shop and cafe on site.

Website

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/scottish-national-portrait-gallery

Contact

Phone: 0131 624 6200
Web: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/content/contact-us

Area of interest
Collection

Black Watch Museum, Perth

Historic Balhousie Castle is both the home of The Black Watch and the unique setting for their regimental museum. The castle was owned by the Hay family, the Earls of Kinnoull. The Seventh Earl and his heir were imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle in 1715 for their Jacobite sympathies. The Black Watch was founded in 1739 as one of the companies that provided a 'watch' over the Highland clans. It was known in Gaelic as Am Freiceadan Dubh, 'the dark or 'black watch. The displays illustrate the history of the regiment.

Access

Opening hours. Admission charge. Parking, café, shop.

Website

https://theblackwatch.co.uk/

Contact

Phone: 01738 638152
Email: enquiries@theblackwatch.co.uk

Area of interest
1745 Collection

Clan Cameron Museum

The Camerons have lived in Lochaber since the 14th century. Achnacarry House is the seat of the Clan Cameron and home of Cameron of Lochiel. The Museum in the grounds of the house traces the history of the Clan from through 27 generations to the present day, The Camerons were staunchly Jacobite, coming out in all four Jacobite risings, in 1689, 1715, 1719 and 1745, so the displays have an extensive section on Bonnie Prince Charlie and the risings. In the grounds is the row of trees that Donald Cameron of Lochiel was planting when the messenger from Prince Charles Edward arrived in August 1745.

Access

Opening hours (seasonal). Admission charge. Parking.

Website

https://www.clancameronmuseum.co.uk/

Contact

email: curator@clancameronmuseum.co.uk

Phone: +44 (0)1397 712090