Blog | Castle House Museum

Aug 26
4 min

‘Dunoon air vibrating with the drone of the bagpipes:’ The Cowal Highland Gathering since 1945

This weekend sees the return of the Cowal Highland Gathering to Dunoon. Hosting pipe band and solo piping competitions, highland dancing...

Jul 21
4 min

Rivalry, Royalty and Recreation: The History of Castle Gardens

It would be wrong to write the Castle Gardens off as simply an attractive part of a quiet corner of Dunoon as it has an interesting and...

Jun 3
3 min

Celebrating Twenty-Five Years of Castle House Museum

This year marks a quarter of a century since Castle House Museum began operating from our current location up on Castle Hill, and we are...

Dec 29, 2022
6 min

‘Young John’: The Life of Captain John Lauder

The name Sir Harry Lauder remains familiar due to the lasting legacy of his twentieth century international fame, at a time where such a...

Aug 25, 2022
5 min

'From small beginnings, it has become world famous'- The Story of the Cowal Highland Gathering

Argyll Street during Cowal Games, 1949 This weekend sees Dunoon celebrate the Cowal Highland Gathering, which has been held here since...

Jun 21, 2022
4 min

The Creation and Controversy of Dunoon’s Highland Mary

Highland Mary has stood atop Castle Hill since 1896 and for many of us, is another local feature that we have grown used to and pass by....

May 31, 2022
2 min

Dunoon's Royal Visit, 1958

The town of Dunoon is no stranger to royal visits. Mary Queen of Scots visited the area during her tour of the West of Scotland in 1563...

Dec 21, 2019
1 min

Victorian Christmas 2019

This year we opened our doors for our first ever Victorian Christmas event. It was hard work but the volunteers and managers worked as a...

Sep 9, 2019
1 min

A Bear's Story

Not many bears stay in a Castle so I think I am very special. I am very old and used to stay in the home of Major Bennett a very...

Aug 29, 2019
2 min

Stories from the American Years

Today’s meeting at the pier held by Holy Loch Heritage – The American Years Revisited has created a bit of chat up at the museum between...

Aug 13, 2019
1 min

A Welcome Visitor

Yesterday the Museum was very pleased to have a visit from a former Dunoon resident whose family has had connections with Dunoon for many...

Jun 6, 2019
1 min

The Shopkeepers of Argyll Street

We are delighted to have assisted with the creation of this street-long exhibition celebrating the heritage and people of Dunoon’s Argyll...

Jan 26, 2019
1 min

New Year Update

Morning folks. Been a while since I have posted on here but things have been moving on. New leaflets and posters have been produced in...

Dec 1, 2018
2 min

2018 Poppy Appeal

The recent arrival of a message from The Poppy Appeal (see below) provides the opportunity to place on record the part CASTLE HOUSE...

Nov 30, 2018
1 min

Victorian Kitchen

We received two pictures today from Strachur History Society. They had borrowed items from the Victorian Kitchen as we were closed for...

Nov 29, 2018
1 min

Can you help out?

Hello folks. Having had a Facebook reminder that I had not posted for a while decided as the weather today is really dismal to bring you...

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