A new state-of-the-art £3.7m museum collections centre at Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore has been officially handed over, according to High Life Highland the local authority.

'Am Fasgadh', which means 'shelter' in Gaelic and was the name given to the original Folk Museum, will now house more than 10,000 artefacts and convey life in the Highlands from the 1600s to the 1950s.

The new facility will also contain a research library, a conservation laboratory, offices and two areas which can be used for seminars, training courses, meetings and educational visits. The building will help to conserve and develop the artefacts of the Highland Collection, but there are also plans to arrange regular public tours once the development is officially opened in April 2014.

-- Advertisement --

Commenting on the project, Linda Kirkland, Chair of the High Life Highland Board of Directors said: "I am delighted that this new building is now complete, and am confident that it will become a significant feature on the cultural landscape of Strathspey & Badenoch, the wider Highlands and, in due course of Scotland."

Am Fasgadh has been designed and built to the highest environmental standards and designed to blend into its location, the building's walls are dressed with larch to complement the surrounding woods and indigenous Highland trees and the design references vernacular agricultural buildings.

(JP/CD)