Castle House Museum

15/10/2026

It might seem a bit early, but here at Castle House we are making a list and checking it twice… 📝 🎅

Yule want to save the date for our Christmas Tree Festival, which we are delighted to be holding again this year on the 12th and 13th of December. The creations are crafted by local community groups and always look tree-mendous! 🎁 ✨

If your group fancies celebrating the festive season with a sleighful of community spirit this Christmas, we would be delighted to have you enter the Festival. Taking part will showcase the
fantastic organisations that help make sure Dunoon shines bright, as well as your local independent Museum.

For more information, just contact us on [email protected]. Get ready to spruce up your calendar! 🎄 🌟

07/10/2026

As the Waverley is celebrating her 80th year we thought we would share this painting.
Recently donated by Mark Walsh a friend of the Museum 🏰
The frame is made from the edge of a paddle floatt removed in September 2024.
Still making waves 🌊 🚢

30/09/2026

22/09/2026

Join Marcus at Stronifian Community Forest, see dates below.
Contact Debbie Kirby at [email protected] to confirm your attendance.
Argyll & Bute Museums & Heritage Forum

19/09/2026

As we near the end of the season its great to look back on some our visitors,here are some.
Charlie King dropped by with his daughter to look at some old school pictures,it was great to show Charlie photos of his siblings and himself during school time.

Does anyone remember Dennis Price from school? He attended St Muns Primary School. Dennis and his family visited us from El Centro California .

A lovely couple recently married from Italy(so sorry we forgot your names!)who were travelling Scotland on their honeymoon. We hope your visit to Dunoon was a memorable one! Haste ye back ! :)

If you haven't been to visit us yet we are open Tuesday-Saturday 10-4,closing for the season on the 30th October 2026.

17/09/2026

Have you got your tickets yet?

Support the Stay Fresh Music Festival and help build on the 44k raised so far for local and national charities.

We are delighted to be a recipient of a donation from this fab event 🎶 🎵
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28/08/2026

Did you know that public access to Castle Hill was defended by a number of courageous local women in 1835?

When Sir James Ewing built Castle House in 1824, he decided that he wanted to create a wall and enclose his new land. This decision was unpopular with his new neighbours, as it prevented public access to Castle Hill and the ruins of Dunoon Castle. This area was regarded as common ground, and used regularly by the women of the village to bleach their linen. To correct this, each night the women set to work demolishing the parts of the wall that had been built that day.

One newspaper of the time described this as ‘a large band of women, headed by an octogenarian heroine, and armed with poker and tongs.’ Eventually, the women were arrested and taken to the village of Inveraray to be tried at the court. However they were regarded locally as heroes and were set free.

They were described in popular newsprint at the time as ‘courageous women’ who ‘calmly but firmly strove for the freedom of Castle Hill.’ Next time you find yourself walking along the front past Castle House, remember the brave Dunoon women who safeguarded this route for the future.

26/08/2026

Thank you to one of our volunteers for pointing out that this photo is 100 years old today!

With 2026 Cowal Games weekend almost upon us we took the opportunity to share a capture from this popular picture.

Do you recognise it?

22/08/2026

We are excited to share that our new textile banner celebrating Highland Mary’s anniversary is now out on display! 🎉

The banner was created to mark the 130th anniversary of the unveiling of the town’s Highland Mary statue in 1896. It was designed through a series of community craft workshops, with visitors from near and far getting involved by sketching, collaging, and embroidering. 🪡

The project used images from the Museum collection to highlight the rich history of the statue, an iconic feature of the town. Participants created the collage, and then added to the design with embroidery.

We’d like to thank textile artist Katie for her hard work on the project and running these fantastic workshops, as well as bringing Mary’s colourful history to life. Thank you to everyone that came along to these workshops and got involved- we hope to welcome you back to see the final product in all its glory. ☺

Thank you to the Hugh Fraser Foundation for supporting this project.

16/08/2026

Please join us in wishing John Stirling a Happy 80th Birthday 🥳

We celebrated with tea and cake along with a lovely visit from Grace Black.
John and Grace were born in the same week at Struan Lodge. Both 80 years young 😉