As early as 1966, Miss Helen Drew recognised that much of the heritage of our local area was disappearing, as large country houses were being sold off and the way of life was changing completely. As a result Miss Drew began her collection and in 1978 purchased the former St John’s Church, aided by grant funding and public support, and gifted it to The Museum to house the collection.

In 1991 a charitable trust was established with the primary aims of providing education to the general public, through the care and preservation of the collection and the building.

40 years later, we still own and occupy the former St John’s Church, a handsome 140 year old Grade II listed building, designed by local architect Richard Park, and our collection has grown to over 5000 artefacts, mostly of a local nature giving a great insight into every way of life in Newton Stewart.

We pride ourselves on our unique character and offering a friendly, welcoming and informative experience at an affordable price. Our visitor numbers have increased to over 1500 per year, we are offering more and more services, including group and outreach visits, we have recently been rated a 3* tourist attraction by Visit Scotland and we have won a heritage award for Wigtownshire.

Sadly, our Gothic spire is in need of some urgent repairs to prevent rainwater ingress which makes the stairs dangerous. There are times when we have to close the stairs to the public, meaning there is no access to the gallery which houses our schoolroom, maps, paintings, photographs, and the Galloway Gazette archives from 1870. Due to the height of the spire (and the amount of scaffolding required) as well as the specialist building materials, this will cost us in excess of £20,000.

We are run entirely by volunteers who do an amazing job fundraising for us, and we’ve had great support from the local community at our events, but this will take more than we can raise in that way. We’ll apply for funding support, but we also need help to raise funds towards the total cost and to help us keep preserving the heritage of Newton Stewart.

Thanks for your support, The Museum Newton Stewart, SC018498