The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Royal link helps Dunfermline museum gain nomination for top award.
Museum boasts wedding dress made from same silk as regal gown
The Queen has helped Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries join the running for a top heritage award.
The award-winning cultural hub, which has already amassed a huge haul of architectural and design plaudits, has been nominated in the museums and historic properties or sites category of the Association for Heritage Interpretation awards.
The biennial scheme recognises and rewards the best practice in heritage interpretation across the UK and Ireland.
They are the only awards to recognise excellence in all types and sizes of heritage interpretation, whether held in museums, historic buildings, visitor centres or any type of outdoor location.
Fife Cultural Trust’s Dunfermline venue faces tough competition in the category, including St Fagans National Museum of History, in Cardiff, Project Pilgrim at Gloucester Cathedral and Whitby Abbey.
Being shortlisted is a recognition of the displays and the part people played in creating them, including, in a roundabout way, the Queen.
One of the exhibits is a wedding dress made from the same silk as that which went into creating the young Princess Elizabeth’s wedding gown.
Magdalena Bosshardt’s family came to Dunfermline when her father was appointed as manager of the worldrenowned Winterthur silk mill.
Her wedding dress was made from a spare bolt of the silk woven by the factory for the Queen.
Now living in Canada, Magdalena donated her dress to the museum. She is just one of many people who helped shape the galleries.
Lesley Botten, ONFife’s interpretation team leader, said: “It means a great deal to me to have the museum displays shortlisted for this award.
“It’s special because it recognises the part that Dunfermline’s people played in creating their museum within the award-winning building.
“They gave their time, their stories, their photographs and their expertise to make a museum that truly reflects Dunfermline’s history.”
The £12.4 million hub, which has recently celebrated the second anniversary of its official opening, combines the world’s first Carnegie Library and houses a museum, exhibition galleries, local history reading room, children’s library and a cafe with views over to Dunfermline Abbey and the heritage quarter.
As one of Scotland’s ancient capitals, Dunfermline has a remarkable royal history and an impressive industrial heritage and its past is brought to life in the museum with stories retold through a series of special films, interviews, computer games and collections.
The winners will be announced on October 10.
“It means a great deal to me to have the museum displays shortlisted for this award. LESLEY BOTTEN