Coastal Communities Museum in North Berwick, is a registered charity. It is situated in the town of North Berwick which is considered the tourist capital of East Lothian. This museum is run on grants and donation and a volunteer work force is used to manage all the processes of the museum including, research, promotion, administrations and exhibitions. The original North Berwick Museum only showcased artifacts from the North Berwick but now it has expanded to cover the nearby villages and towns.
Coastal Communities Museum is like a portal of time travel that takes you way back in time. Some of the objects in this museum go back to as much as 3,000 years and give you an insight into how East Lothian, surrounding villages and landscape were even 10,000 years ago. This place is open to adults as well as kids and anyone looking for information or just plain curious about the past is welcome to this eclectic place.
Every year, the museum introduces a theme and changes the permanent display based on it. It also offers various family friendly activities, opportunity to volunteer and programs for education institutes to make leaning about the history of East Lothian fun and intriguing.
History Of Coastal Community Museum
Coastal Community Museum has panned out from the North Berwick Museum, which was started on 8th July 1957. Dr, Richardson, William Auld and Thomas Hutchison came together to set up the exhibits that showcased the heritage, history and culture of the town of North Berwick. This museum was located in the same location as today. It was closed down in 2002 and was reopened in June of 2013 on public demand. In 2007, people voted in favor of opening the museum again tough a local petition. This petition got more than 5000 signatures and that was huge given that the population of the town was just 6000 at the time.
East Lothian Council acknowledged the will of its people and soon constituted a team of consultants who were needed to conduct a feasibility study for a new museum. If needs not be mentioned that the feasibility report came out good and the East Lothian Council started to build the funds needed for the improvement of the building. The whole process of resurrecting the museum took many refunding and the council had to overcome many hurdles before they could open the doors once again in 2013.
Today, the museum is run by a team which is divided into 4 tiers; Members, Patron, Volunteers and Board of Trustees.
Learning For Kids
The Coastal Community Museum is child friendly and has been designed from the basics to ensure that children are always welcome to the museum with their questions. To begin with, the museum has a lift which can accommodate buggies and prams. Further, the learning activities have been designed to provide a great learning experience to children of all age groups. On their visit to the museum, children can learn more about the area they live in, look at the artifacts and pictures from the glorious past of North Berwick and surrounding areas while having fun. The kids here can also indulge in activities where they are needed to dress up and perform tasks.
Coastal Community Museum is also open to School and other group visits. They just need an advance notice, so that they can prepare to guide the groups and help the most while they enjoy the history preserved in the museum.
Exhibitions And Family Events
As has been already mentioned, the Coastal Community Museum puts up a theme every year. All the exhibitions and activities are conducted based on that theme and a effort is made to educate people as much as possible using various methods which includes fun family activities, coffee workshops and of course the famous exhibitions. Every year the team behind the museum works hard to put out the displays according to the theme, plans the events, add new displays and monitor activities to make learning about 10,000 years of history easy and fun.
If you are visiting North Berwick, you have to visit the Coastal Community Museum to take in the grand history of the place you are visiting. This museum is once is a lifetime experience and is a good learning experience for all members of the family despite of their age differences.
Visiting The Coastal Community Museum
The Coastal Community Museum stays closed during the winter season. So, if you are visiting between December and March, you won’t be able to experience it. During other months of the year, this museum follows a calendar. You can find out the details on this page.