New museums website a window in from the world

A brand new website has been launched to showcase the wealth of information, exhibits and artefacts available at Council-owned museums in the county

The site - www.orkneymuseums.co.uk - features information on The Orkney Museum in Kirkwall, Scapa Flow Museum, Kirbuster and Corrigall Farm Museums and St Magnus Cathedral.

Focus is also given to specific collections including information and photographs for a small selection of the 40,000 items of 'social history' owned by the Museums Service -  including the Huntsgarth clothing found in a peatbog in Harray in 1968, a nursing chair from 1596 and a whole plate camera originally owned and used by renowned Orcadian photographer Tom Kent.

The Archaeological collection also has its own area of the site, which features artefacts including the Whalebone Plaque, the St Magnus Reliquary and an equal-armed brooch from the Scar Viking Boat burial.

Both sections will be added to in the coming months.

Funding for the new site has come from the Scottish Government’s Rural and Island Futures – Islands Policy Unit and NatureScot, through the European Structural & Investment Fund.  

Nick Hewitt is Orkney Islands Council's Team Leader for Culture. He said: "The collections housed in Orkney's Museums are incredible, telling centuries of fascinating and enthralling stories from Orkney and attracting thousands of visitors from all over the world every year.

"We love welcoming visitors in person to our museums to see our artefacts, but in this increasingly digital world it was equally important we upped our game on our online presence, to offer that window in from the world - and hopefully encourage even more visitors to come, whether they be people visiting Orkney or those who live right here.

"The site is packed full of information.  I'm particularly fond of the News and Blogs site, in which our staff have written about specific artefacts and given some history of the museum building themselves.

"We've got lots more developments for the site planned - so watch this space."