The Mapping Museum research project was created to look at the increase in the number of museums in the UK. As part of this project, Philip Arthur and Joanne Howdle were interviewed about the Caithness Horizons Museum and Art Gallery.

Explore more about the Mapping Museum project here and read Arthur and Howdle's interview below:

Interview summary

Name of persons being interviewed: Philip Arthur, Joanne Howdle

Location of interview: Caithness, Thurso

Date of Recording: 17 May 2019

Recording Length: 01:20:26

Name of interviewer: Dr Toby Butler

Description: Caithness Horizons Museum was home to a permanent collection that told the story of the county of Caithness from 416 million years ago to the present day. There was also a cafe and gift shop. Displays included the Early Medieval Sculpture Collection, The History of the Dounreay Nuclear Establishment, The Robert Dick Herbarium, The Flow Country, The Vikings.

This museum closed in February 2019.

Summary of main points in interview: Philip Arthur was on the museum’s board of Trustees; Joanne Howdle was its curator. They discuss the origins of the museum, comprised chiefly of three collections: Highland Council collection of mostly geological, archaeological and natural history artefacts; material regarding and from the Dounreay Nuclear Plant (decommissioning began in 1994 and is ongoing); social history artefacts from the Thurso Heritage Society. They discuss funding, staffing, the buildings, creating an inventory and catalogue, new accessions, and changes over the years from the museum’s opening in 2008 until its closure in 2019.

Attracting 2,000-3,000 visitors per year, the museum ran into financial difficulties and changes to its Board led to redundancies. Arthur and Howdle discuss their disappointment at the closure of the museum, steps taken to try and avert it and their sadness at not having had a chance to achieve what they had wanted to. They express the hope that it might be taken over by High Life Highlands, but at the time of writing (May 2020) this has not yet happened.

AUDIO FILES ONLY; NO TRANSCRIPT PROVIDED