 The Old Town House | |
 | |
| Established | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Location | Aberdeen, Scotland |
| Website | https://www.abdn.ac.uk/museums/exhibitions/kings-museum-586.php |
King's Museum was a small university museum operated by the University of Aberdeen and located in the Old Town House in Old Aberdeen, Scotland.
The University of Aberdeen's museum collections are among the largest and most important in Scotland, having been granted the status of a Recognised Collection of National Significance by Museums Galleries Scotland. [1] The collections were originally established in King's College in 1727. [2] They were later housed at the Marischal College building. Following the closure of the Marischal Museum within Marischal College in July 2008, a dedicated public museum opened at No. 17 High Street in April 2011, [3] although the collections themselves remained at Marischal College. The public museum was re-located to the Old Town House in the High Street in 2013. [4] The museum hosted a number of temporary exhibitions featuring a rotation of items taken from the collection at Marischal College.
The King's Museum closed in March 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, initially to support the public health response to the pandemic in the city of Aberdeen. As of December 2023, no plans had been announced to reopen. The main collection at Marischal College continues to be used for teaching and research, both within the University of Aberdeen community, and by visiting academic researchers, but it is not open to the public.
The museum ran a schools service for primary school classes in the Aberdeen City council area and Aberdeenshire. Workshops were offered on a variety of topics, and all workshops linked in with the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence. [5]
The museum ran an evening lecture series on Tuesdays [6] throughout the university term time, and also participated in national and international events, such as the annual "Night at the Museums" event, part of the ICOM European Night of Museums [7] and Museums Galleries Scotland's Festival of Museums. [8]
Aberdeen is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeenshire, but is now separate from the council area of Aberdeenshire.
The University of Aberdeen is a public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, petitioned Pope Alexander VI on behalf of James IV, King of Scots to establish King's College, making it one of Scotland's four ancient universities and the fifth-oldest university in the English-speaking world. Along with the universities of St Andrews, Glasgow, and Edinburgh, the university was part of the Scottish Enlightenment during the 18th century.
The Gifford Lectures are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford at the four ancient universities of Scotland: St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Their purpose is to "promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term – in other words, the knowledge of God." A Gifford lectures appointment is one of the most prestigious honours in Scottish academia.
Alexander Gerard FRSE was a Scottish minister, academic and philosophical writer. In 1764 he was the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Marischal College is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has been the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. The building was constructed for and is on long-term lease from the University of Aberdeen, which still uses parts of the building to store its museum collections. Today, it provides corporate office space and public access to council services, adjacent to the Town House, the city's historic seat of local government. It is the second largest granite building in the world.
King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen, is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the University of Aberdeen. Its historic buildings are the centrepiece of the University of Aberdeen's Old Aberdeen campus, often known as the King's or King's College campus.
Marischal Museum was a museum in Aberdeen, Scotland, specialising in anthropology and artifacts from cultures around the world. The museum was a part of the University of Aberdeen, situated at Marischal College, a grand neo-gothic building said to be the second-largest granite building in the world, displaying collections owned by the university. The museum is closed to the public, but now operates as the University of Aberdeen's museum collections centre.
The city of Aberdeen in Scotland has amenities that cover a wide range of cultural activities, including a selection of museums and galleries. There are festivals and theatrical events throughout the year.
Undergraduate gowns are a notable feature of academic dress for students at the ancient universities in Scotland.
The Tap o' Noth is a hill and the name of a Pictish hill fort on its summit, 8 miles south of Huntly in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at grid reference NJ485293. It is the second highest fort in Scotland and its main feature is its well-preserved vitrified wall which encloses an area of approximately 100 m by 30 m, 0.3 hectares. Archaeological finds from the site include a stone axe head dated to between c. 2000 BC– c.800 BC, and a decorated bronze rein-ring dated to the 1st–3rd century AD. The site has been designated a scheduled ancient monument.
Roger Bevan Williams, MBE is a Welsh organist and musicologist. In 2010, he retired as Master of Ceremonial Music and Organist to the University of Aberdeen, a music department in which he had been a member for over 30 years.
The University of Aberdeen School of Law is the law school of University of Aberdeen, located in Aberdeen, Scotland. Established in 1495, it is consistently ranked among the top 10 law schools in the United Kingdom.
Aberdeen Student Show is a comedy musical and theatrical show, staged annually in Aberdeen, Scotland.
William Dickie Niven, of Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, was a Scottish academic.
Dr Edward Wyllie Fenton FRSE FLS (1889–1962) was a Scottish botanist. He was President of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh 1944–45.
Prof Robert Douglas Lockhart FRSE LLD FSAS (1894–1987) was a 20th-century Scottish anatomist. He served as president of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1955–57. He was also the official Curator of the Marischal Museum.
Alexander Thomson of Banchory FRSE (1798–1868) was a 19th-century Scottish advocate, agriculturalist, antiquary, author, philanthropist and traveller. He owned an estate at Banchory-Devenick in Aberdeenshire. After qualifying as an advocate in Edinburgh he returned to the estate and did not pursue a career at the bar preferring to follow the life of a country gentleman. He travelled extensively in Europe, spending many years studying overseas. He settled crofters on his estate and planted many trees. His position in life allowed to give time to many interests including antiquarian studies, geology, biology and social reform. He attempted to unite Marischal and King's Colleges in Aberdeen University. At the Dirsuption he sided with the Free Church and was a prominent leader in that cause. He died in 1868 and bequeathed a sizeable museum and collection of books to the church. He also gave a substantial amount of money to set up a Free Church College in Aberdeen.
Ian Russell MBE is a British Folklorist, most noted for his research into singing traditions in the English Pennines.
Abeer Eladany FSAScot is a Cairo born Egyptologist and archaeologist. She has a particular interest in human remains, the history of Egyptology and museology with a particular focus on ethics and repatriation and making museum collections accessible. She is known for her work in Egyptology, particularly for finding a fragment of wood from Great Pyramid of Giza in the University of Aberdeen's collection in 2021.
