Brechin Town House Museum Restoration Project

The restoration and extension of two adjacent buildings (28 High Street and 2-4 Church Street, Brechin) has resulted in an expanded museum/exhibition space over two floors, providing facilities for temporary exhibitions on the first floor, and a local history museum to the ground floor, as well as facilities for community based activities. The project comprised extensive works to both the interior and exterior of two interlinked buildings.
The building was converted into a one room local history museum in 2003, limited to the ground floor to the front of the building. The remainder of the building was largely unusable due to its serious state of dilapidation and a lack of further funding. It was clear, however, that the building was both sufficiently prominent and of significant importance to the history and architectural heritage of Brechin and to the community, to merit inclusion as a priority project in the Townscape Heritage Initiative. The building is one of only a handful of ‘polite’ buildings in the centre of Brechin .
The emphasis of the £383,000 project was to preserve as much of the existing fabric as possible and reverse unfortunate later alterations, in order to reveal the original features which were either intact or repairable whilst adhering to the principles of minimum intervention. Adopting this approach a number of exciting finds were uncovered during the course of the works, and have subsequently become exhibits for the Museum and recorded by archaeologists. Where it was necessary to improve disabled access to the building, by the construction of a ramp and lift, these additions were located in areas which necessitated the least disruption to the fabric of the building.
Downtakings included the removal of partitions to the first floor former Guild Hall (or Gallery) which had undoubtedly compromised the original proportions of the room as well as masking areas of the cornicing and the architecturally fine ‘Serlio’ window. Services were also removed so that the Guild Hall was returned to one large room, revealing the two fireplaces and the intricate cornicing with missing sections reinstated where necessary.
The floorboards were beyond repair, and extensive outbreaks of wet rot were found throughout the first floor and attic. Solid oak floorboards were laid to the Guild Hall room whilst the remainder of the building low maintenance floor coverings were laid on tongue and groove or existing floors.
The sash windows were renovated to the first floor small rear building and an unsympathetic large 1950’s window was removed and replaced with the historically accurate pattern and a simple timber panelled door to the ground floor on Church Street. Stones removed from blocked openings within the building were reused to rebuild the stonework to the Church street elevation ensuring the best match.
Existing doors were refurbished to the first floor and treated with intumescent paint whilst retaining ‘shadows’ of previous lettering of former users of the building. Later inappropriate modern doors to the ground floor were removed and replaced with timber ones of a similar build to the first floor.
New toilet facilities and a small kitchen were located to the ground and first floor of the Church Street property, neatly fitting in with the existing domestic room plans and providing easy access for ‘out of hours’ events through the side entrance door on Church Street.
The project has delivered a hugely improved and expanded visitor attraction for Brechin, and a building which offers the community a centrally located facility for heritage and cultural activities as well as a venue to showcase the rich history of this historic cathedral town. Community projects will now be able to be held in the building and the first, a presentation, was scheduled for 1 December but had to be postponed as a result of the bad weather and will now take place in March. The second scheduled presentation will take place 2 February and will be based on the work of a local artist whose paintings are currently being exhibited in the hall.

The building is owned and occupied by Angus Council through Cultural Services. Curator: Mrs. Rachel Benvie.
Brechin Townhouse Museum has been expanded from a one room museum to a complete Museum facility, comprising the Museum, two historical dioramas, and two art galleries, both of which can be used for events organised by Cultural Services and for changing exhibitions.
The building is fully accessible on all floors to all users, operating in conjunction with Angus Council’s fire evacuation policy.
The Museum has been completely redisplayed and the cases refurbished, using a variety of current design techniques and technology. Key objects telling the story of Brechin and the Townhouse have been highlighted and interpreted and a wide selection of photographic images made available on VDUs. The two dioramas focus on important aspects of the history of Brechin and the Townhouse – namely the medieval Scriptorium for the Cathedral and one of the actual cells used to incarcerate prisoners and debtors.
The two galleries have enabled the works of local artist David Waterson to be displayed together for the first time in one building, and will also facilitate changing exhibitions of work, both from local artists and those more nationally known, in the future.
This key facility in the heart of Brechin aims to encourage local people to be proud of their city and what it has achieved and is still achieving over the millennia, as well as “sell” the area to visitors. The town centre is currently quieter than other areas and the location of such an attraction should assist in the town centre regeneration, and the appreciation of Brechin as the architectural and historical gem of Angus that it is.
This project has created a town centre museum at the very core of Brechin. Visitor numbers have been encouraging and are increasing, with visitors coming in at the initial reopening and also continuing to visit and others as passing trade. Visitor reactions have been extremely positive, especially from those who live abroad – one Canadian described it as more professional than “Buckingham Castle”.
The exhibition of David Waterson works has also been very well received, illustrating as it does many of the forgotten views of Brechin, and generating much local interest and debate.
The large upstairs gallery, of very elegant proportions, will be used for talks and events run by Angus Council Cultural Services in conjunction with the Friends of Brechin Townhouse Museum and other partners. This is a facility which currently does not exist in such a form in Brechin.

The building is owned and occupied by Angus Council through Cultural Services. Curator: Mrs. Rachel Benvie.
Brechin Townhouse Museum has been expanded from a one room museum to a complete Museum facility, comprising the Museum, two historical dioramas, and two art galleries, both of which can be used for events organised by Cultural Services and for changing exhibitions.
The building is fully accessible on all floors to all users, operating in conjunction with Angus Council’s fire evacuation policy.
The Museum has been completely redisplayed and the cases refurbished, using a variety of current design techniques and technology. Key objects telling the story of Brechin and the Townhouse have been highlighted and interpreted and a wide selection of photographic images made available on VDUs. The two dioramas focus on important aspects of the history of Brechin and the Townhouse – namely the medieval Scriptorium for the Cathedral and one of the actual cells used to incarcerate prisoners and debtors.
The two galleries have enabled the works of local artist David Waterson to be displayed together for the first time in one building, and will also facilitate changing exhibitions of work, both from local artists and those more nationally known, in the future.
This key facility in the heart of Brechin aims to encourage local people to be proud of their city and what it has achieved and is still achieving over the millennia, as well as “sell” the area to visitors. The town centre is currently quieter than other areas and the location of such an attraction should assist in the town centre regeneration, and the appreciation of Brechin as the architectural and historical gem of Angus that it is.
This project has created a town centre museum at the very core of Brechin. Visitor numbers have been encouraging and are increasing, with visitors coming in at the initial reopening and also continuing to visit and others as passing trade. Visitor reactions have been extremely positive, especially from those who live abroad – one Canadian described it as more professional than “Buckingham Castle”.
The exhibition of David Waterson works has also been very well received, illustrating as it does many of the forgotten views of Brechin, and generating much local interest and debate.
The large upstairs gallery, of very elegant proportions, will be used for talks and events run by Angus Council Cultural Services in conjunction with the Friends of Brechin Townhouse Museum and other partners. This is a facility which currently does not exist in such a form in Brechin.