Heritage chiefs are about to enter crucial talks over the future of an Angus tourist hub.
It has emerged that Glamis Folk Museum is in doubt because it could cost £500,000 to protect the centre’s fabric.
Connie Lovell of National Trust Scotland spoke to members of Glamis Community Council after they expressed concerns that the attraction would not reopen.
The museum was founded by Jean, Lady Maitland who gave her collections to the nation in 1955, with NTS taking over management of the museum in 1976.
The museum closed in 2013 due to the dangerous state of the roof tiles and again in 2014 due to damp threatening the collection.
A spokesman said: “The appropriate professionals were called in, surveyors, building inspectors, conservators etc.
“At this point the more delicate items in the collection were correctly parcelled, logged and moved across the road to the steading where NTS have an environmentally controlled storage facility.
“Exhibits not so at risk were left in situ.
“Nothing has been removed from Glamis.”
The future of the Folk Museum will be discussed at the May trustees meeting when the decision to retain the building to house the collection will be fully explored.
Repairs to the roof alone have been estimated at £150,000 to £300,000, and the total to put things “right” is expected as £500,000.
The community council heard the centre was only pulling in 1,800 visitors each year and this may not be financially viable to sustain.
The museum occupies six 18th Century cottages, which were occupied formerly by workers of the Earl of Strathmore’s estate, and houses one of the finest folk collections in the country.
It shows how the country’s rural workforce used to live and the cottages constituted the domestic section, with its agricultural exhibits in the farm steading opposite.
Property manager John McKenna said: “There’s been a huge amount of work done to preserve the collection, which has been kept at the folk museum since it closed.
“The important thing here is what’s best for the collection.
“When you put it together, you realise this is a massive statement about life in Angus.”
