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Friday 11:30am - 4pm Saturday 11:30am - 4pm

Lanark Museum

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Lanark Museum

Lanark Museum is open Friday & Saturday, April - September, in the YMCA Bloomgate 11.30-4.00. Car parking is available nearby. Lanark ML11 9HD.

Lanark Museum houses a collection of items which illustrate the ancient and varied history of the town. Lanark is one of Scotland's oldest burghs, and from the time of King William the Lion was a favoured hunting area of the Kings of Scotland. It also has associations with two of Scotland's greatest heroes: William Wallace and King Robert the Bruce. Location
Lanark can be reached with ease from mo

st places in central Scotland and is signposted on all major routes. It is situated nearly half way between Glasgow and Edinburgh and can be reached from both in under an hour. Lanark Museum is within 5 minutes drive of the World Heritage Village of New Lanark and is situated on the main A73 road within 300 yards of the town centre. The headquarters of the museum are at 8 Westport. This property serves as the office, workshop and archive for the museum. An illustrated timeline of Lanark's history and an exhibition of historical artefacts are housed in the YMCA building, 29 Bloomgate, less than 100 yards from 8 Westport and on the other side of the road. Exhibition Opening Hours
11:30 - 16:00; Fridays & Saturdays; April to September

Collection Opening Hours
The volunteers work throughout the year managing the collection. From September to April, when the exhibition is closed, they take down the current exhibition, pack everything into storage in the Westgate premises and begin planning and setting up the next. Individual researchers and group visits (including schools) are welcome at any time by appointment. Admission
Admission is free, although a donation towards the running expenses of the museum would be much appreciated. A donation box is placed at the exit of the exhibition. Funding
The museum is a charitable organisation, managed and staffed by volunteers. The work of the museum is financed through grants, donations given by visitors to the museum and the fund-raising activities of the Friends of Lanark Museum, also a purely voluntary organisation.

29/05/2026

Bonnington Power Station under construction, 1926.

The Clyde Valley Electrical Power Company Ltd was formed in 1901 and initially built and ran coal fired power stations at Motherwell (opened 1906, closed 1930) and Yoker (opened 1905, closed 1976). A third planned facility for Crookston was never built.

Through its subsidiary the Lanarkshire Hydro-Electrical Power Co. Started work on harnessing the falls of Clyde at Bonnington and Stonebyres. Both were built in 1926 and commissioned in 1927. Bonnington was the first to go into production and as such it became the first full scale hydro-electric power station in Scotland.

The station is now owned by the Drax Group and generates 11MW of electricity, enough power to supply approximately 11,000 homes.

28/05/2026

Broomgate, Lanark 1967/68.

Yet another from the survey carried out by Lanark Camera Club on behalf of the Town Council.

Little in the way of buildings has changed with the exception of the one on the extreme left which has new buildings on this site which is currently home to the Broomgate Café, offices and flats.

27/05/2026

Scottish Country Dance Party at Carstairs Junction, May 1957.

Maiden names in brackets.

Back Row l-r Mary Craig; Grace Vernal; Phyllis (Baxter) Whiteford; Beatrice (Harrison) Slider.
Front Row l-r unnamed; Doris (Dunlop) Peacock; Byrnece (Wilson) Gibson; Jean Lunn.

26/05/2026

View across Lanark Loch to the north. 1939

A rather bare looking view compared with that of today where many more trees would be in view. Large areas around the loch in this view have plantings of fairly young conifers that would have later obscured parts of this scene.

The gable and roof on the extreme left are of the Golf Club House building. In the background is the house and works buildings, with chimney, of the oil works. The cottage near the side of the loch was Lochside Cottage which was converted from an engine house used for pumping the water from the loch when it was used as one of Lanark's water supplies. The cottage was still in situ in 1958 but was gone by 1962.

25/05/2026

Steel’s Cross, Lanark 1967/68

Showing the terraced housing at Steel’s Cross with a glimpse of part of the advertising hoarding that stood for many years looking down onto the Cross. a “Lebus” The delivery lorry at the top of the brea was part of the Lebus group which was one of the largest furniture manufacturers in the UK. In the background, and partially behind the van, is Lanark Gas Works.

The place name is often associated with the tale/name of a Covenanter who was either capture or killed at or near this spot however, the place name “Steil Cross” dates to as early as 1567, nearly one hundred years before the Covenanters.

The name remains a bit of a mystery as there is no record of a cross actually being located here, however it may be that it refers to a cross that once stood near the western end of the territory of the burgh. William Roy’s military survey map (1752-1755) shows a cross to the west of the town, north of Baronald (Cartland Bridge Hotel) on the north side of the River Mouse but it, at that time, did not sit at, or near, a road leading to the town as the Cartland Bridge had not yet been built.

22/05/2026

Lanark Museum is hoping to move premises and you can have your say by completing a short survey.
Please click on the link below - Your cooperation and support is greatly appreciated.

21/05/2026

A Campbell-Stokes recorder on Castlehill, Lanark. 1967/68

Situated to the east side of the bowling green just beyond the boundary hedge this recorder stood for many years (no longer in situ) recording the amount of daily sunshine. A simple device consisting of a glass sphere which concentrated the sun’s rays on to a graduated paper chart held in the concave device behind the sphere. The record consisted of charred tracks left on the paper when the sun shines. The length of these tracks could then be added to give the total amount of sunshine per day. It was a very simple and effective device that required no power to run.

20/05/2026

Masonic Hall site Mousebank Road.

This set of three images of the Masonic Hall Site in Mousebank Road are courtesy of the late Thor Black.

The first shows the old Masonic Hall just at the start of its demolition in 2001. The second is the cleared site later in the same year. The third is the block of modern flats that replaced the old building, complete with the for sale signs in 2012.

19/05/2026

Lanark building date stone. 1643.

This date stone came from a building in Wide Close and was kept after it’s demolition in the early 1970s as an important part of the town’s history.

The second image shows it in situ before the demolition of the building. The site is now partly the car park at the top left-hand side of the Wide Close and partly the front of the hostel next door.

18/05/2026

William Ferguson (Fergus) Robertson making a delivery at 2 Bonnington Avenue, 1972.

The family firm of the Lanark carriers, was founded between 1881 and 1891 by William Robertson, Snr originally a wine and spirit merchant at 1 High Street who later became a carrier based at 38 Wellgate.

By age 14 William, Jnr, was helping with his father’s business. In 1901 he was still acting as an assistant to his father along with his younger brother David. His older brother Thomas acted as clerk to the firm. William Snr, died on 18th April 1901 aged 64. In 1903 William, Jnr. married Jessie Ferguson and four years later, in 1907, he was selected to represent the town as Lord Cornet. He was also a Right Worshipful Master of the Masonic Lodge Old St, John No. 21.

Some sources claim that William started his business using a wheelbarrow to deliver goods, which had arrived by train, to local businesses. Prior to this service being offered each business was responsible for uplifting their goods themselves. However, it is quite clear that by 1891 William, Snr. was acting as a carrier and William, Jnr was working for him.

By 1906 the firm had established a base, shared with other carriers, in Argyll Street, Glasgow and were making regular delivery runs between there and the Lanark area. By 1911 Thomas had moved away from the town and William was running the business. At the start of the First World War the firm helped manage the large influx of Belgian refugees by collecting and delivering donations of clothing for them.

In 1920 the firm dispensed with the horse and carts that had replaced the wheelbarrow and moved to motorised vehicles and were making daily deliveries to and from Glasgow. The lorry left Lanark Cross at 9.15 a.m. and travelled via the Clyde valley to Glasgow. By this time their base in Glasgow had moved to Miller Street with heavy goods being through Virginia Street. Whilst still based at 38 Wellgate they also had a garage in North Vennel which was destroyed by a fire in 1923.

After the end of the WW2 William was one of the main contributors to the funds of the newly establish Lanark Old Age Pensioners Association. William Robertson, Jnr died on 23rd February 1953. The business was carried on, until the 1980s, by his son, William Ferguson (Fergus) Robertson.

Address

29 Bloomgate (YMCA Building)
Lanark
ML119ET

Opening Hours

Friday	11:30am - 4pm
Saturday	11:30am - 4pm

Telephone

+441555666680

Website

https://www.lanarkmuseum.co.uk/

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