Museum fund support began in Stromness

This month marks the 60th anniversary of a fund which has supported additions to the collections of museums all over Scotland, with the very first grant awarded to Stromness Museum six decades ago.

The first grant made from the fund in December 1953 was one pound and 10 shillings, used to support the acquisition of three specimens of North Ronaldsay Sheep, a ram, a ewe and a lamb, for Stromness Museum, where they are still on display today.

Others have ranged from a manuscript of Auld Lang Syne to a fossil dinosaur footprint, from a Van Gogh to a Highland sub-post office, and from a Bronze Age logboat to original artwork of Oor Wullie.

The National Fund for Acquisitions, administered with Scottish Government funding by National Museums Scotland, contributes each year towards the acquisition of objects for the collections of museums, galleries, libraries and archives throughout Scotland. It has supported over 6,000 purchases for over 120 organisations.