Unique, authentic, thought-provoking
Step back in time and discover Scotland’s rural history at Auchindrain, the most complete and well-preserved example of a Scottish Highland farm township. Vividly imagine life in the old Highlands as you walk through the settlement and see how ordinary people lived and worked. Step into the restored longhouses, see the objects of everyday life and learn about the past inhabitants. Explore the byres, stables and fields to understand how groups of families worked the land in common. Uncover a fascinating, long-vanished Scottish way of life deep in the hills of Argyll.
Auchindrain is six miles south of Inveraray, just an hour and a half from Glasgow.
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Explore Auchindrain
Click the button below for an online interactive tour of Auchindrain
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
The name of the place is Achadh an Droighinn in Gaelic, and Auchindrain in the Scots language although until the 1950s the spelling was often Achindrain. In the past, the name was sometimes translated into English as Thornfield. Achadh is the Gaelic for “field”, and droighinn for the blackthorn or sloe tree – Prunus Spinosa. The correct pronunciation is Achan-DRYan, with a soft “ch”. Say the “a” and the “i” in the Scots language spelling as two separate letters, and you won’t be far wrong
OPENING TIMES
We are open from 1st April to 31st October, 10am to 5pm daily.
From November to March we are open 10am-4pm most weekdays, except over Christmas and New Year. When planning a winter visit, please email us at info@auchindrain.org.uk to check that we will be open when you want to come. You do not need to book in advance, but please don’t hold us responsible if you turn up without warning and the gates are closed. In the winter the Visitor Centre is closed and you take us as you find us.
In the winter the Visitor Centre is closed and you take us as you find us, but admission is at reduced rates.
ADMISSION PRICES
Adult: £8.00
Concession: £7.00
Child 5-17: £5.50
Local Residents, Friends of Auchindrain and everyone November-March: £1.00 adult, 50p concessions and children.
A 20% discount is available to up to two adults where a group includes more than one child, and to pre-booked groups of more than 20 people.
School and other educational visits must be booked and arranged in advance, so that we can provide the type and quality of service you have the right to expect.
Children under 5, carers supporting visitors with disabilities, guides and drivers, and professional members of the Museums Association, the Association of Independent Museums and the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions are admitted free.
Sorry, but we do not recognise membership cards for Historic Environment Scotland or the National Trust for Scotland.
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Today Auchindrain marks the end of the Great War a century ago. Alongside the conventional red poppy of remembrance, we recognise the white poppy of peace that rejects all war, the black poppy for the often-forgotten African and other black people who served, and the purple poppy for the animal victims of war.
Our remote Scottish farming community stands as an example of many. From our small population, four young men were of an age to serve in the forces.
Neil McCallum volunteered, joining the RNVR as an Ordinary Seaman. He served in a number of ships and shore establishments, including the "Dreadnought" battleship HMS Neptune. After the war, he came home safe.
Neil's elder brother Eddie was conscripted in 1916. He trained with the Tyneside Scottish at Alnwick in Northumberland, but early in 1917 seems to have been one of the "military ploughmen" sent back home because too few people were left to plough and sow the fields. On his return to the army he was posted to the 9th Battalion Border Regiment, in Salonika. This was a Pioneer battalion - skilled workers who dug trenches, cleared timber, etc: his agricultural background presumably played a role in this. Although they were fully trained soldiers, Pioneer battalions were sometimes considered too valuable to send into direct combat. After the war, he came home safe.
Malcolm Duncan Munro served first in the Royal Scots, and later in several other regiments including the Corps of Dragoons. He saw action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He was later gassed, but made a full recovery putting this down to his physical fitness from farm work and playing shinty. After the war, he came home safe,
And what of the fourth of these young men, Malcolm Archibald Munro, known as "Cally Stoner"? There is no record of him having served, legal documents place him here in 1917 at a time when the other three were away in the forces, and his family have no memory of war service ever being discussed. There would have been no basis for him to be exempted from conscription, and if he had been a conscientious objector he would have been imprisoned for alleged cowardice. We conclude that he failed the medical examination, was excluded, and stayed at home on the farm. So he, too, survived the war.
Auchindrain may not have lost any of its young men to the fighting, but the War Memorial in the nearby village of Furnace bears the names of 21 of their friends and neighbours who did not survive: 19 from the army, one from the navy and one munitions worker, including two Townsley cousins from the village's Gypsy-Traveller camp who would have been well known at Auchindrain.
We remember them all.
(Beyond the poppies, the photographs show Private Eddie McCallum, 9th Borders, on campaign in Salonika; HMS Neptune, on which served Ordinary Seaman Neil McCallum; the Medals Index Card for Private Malcolm Duncan Munro; the legal document proving that Malcolm Archibald Munro did not see military service; Furnace War Memorial; and the names from the Furnace War Memorial.)
This is a message for all our Facebook followers who are also actually members of The Auchindrain Trust.
You will in the last few days have received emailed details of the Trust's AGM for 2018, which takes place on 27th November.
Please find time to read the papers, most importantly the Annual Report and Accounts, and then please return the voting form that is included. Don't delay - please do it today!
Auchindrain is now in Winter Mode. Until the end of March, we will usually, but not always, be open on weekdays from 10am to 4pm. Please email info@auchindrain.org.uk to check for the day you would like to come. You can just try turning up, but we can't guarantee we will be open that day. We will be closed completely between 21st December and 7th January.
During the winter our Visitor Centre and Tearoom are not open, some sensitive items are not on display, and some areas may be inaccessible because of maintenance work: you take us as you find us! But admission only costs £1 for adults and 50p for concessions and children, and for that you get a ticket valid for a whole year.
As we approach the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War, Auchindrain recalls the young men of the township who served. All of our young men came back: most communities had losses to grieve. We remember them all.Find out more about the men of Auchindrain Township who served during the First World War in the run up to the 100th anniversary of the Armistice: buff.ly/2QZyvWn #WW1 #GoIndustrial
With Myles and Freddie now in their final week in Beaumotte, France, they spent Tuesday morning and afternoon in the garden collecting tomatoes, kale, carrots and other vegetables while also both using a broadfork for the first time.