Robert Burns Birthplace Museum
{{Short description|Museum in Scotland}}
File:Robert_Burns_Birthplace_Museum_-_geograph.org.uk_-_4561998.jpg.]]
The Robert Burns Birthplace Museum is a museum which houses collections relating to the life of Robert Burns, Scotland's national Bard. It is run by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) and is located within Alloway in Ayrshire, the village where Burns was born. It neighbours Burn's Cottage, the house in which Burns was born.{{Cite book |last=Mackay |first=James Alexander |title=A biography of Robert Burns |date= |publisher=Mainstream Publishing Company (Edinburgh) LTD |year=1992 |isbn=978-1-85158-462-8 |location=Edinburgh}}
History
A Burns based museum has existed in a form since 1903 as the Burns House Museum, and Burn's Cottage has exhibited Burn's related artefacts as early as the 1820's.{{Cite journal |last=Hopes |first=David |date=2022 |title=Ellisland: A Museum History. Part 1: Restocking and Reframing, 1921–53 |url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/burns.2022.0038 |journal=Burns Chronicle |language=en |volume=131 |issue=1 |pages=60–79 |doi=10.3366/burns.2022.0038 |issn=1365-7518 |via=Edinburgh University Press}}
File:Robert_Burns_at_Alloway,_A.Fullarton_&_Co._1859.jpg
The Robert Burns Birthplace Museum is run and owned by the NTS.{{Cite web |title=Robert Burns Birthplace Museum |url=https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/robert-burns-birthplace-museum |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=National Trust for Scotland |language=en}} It was opened in the form it is today in 2009, with £23 million being spent on the project.{{Cite news |date=2020-01-10 |title=Robert Burns 'worth more than £200m to Scottish economy' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-51061993 |access-date=2024-01-25 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} This NTS project was supported by Professor Robert Crawford of The University of St Andrews, participating in the Scottish Governments 'Homecoming 2009
Public Impact and Collections
The museum houses more than 5,000 Burns inspired artefacts, including original written manuscripts.
It is second only to Shakespeare's museum in its number of visitor numbers out of all UK writers' museums. It has increased public engagement with Burns-related material, helped to boost tourism in Ayrshire, and improved the visitor experience to the Burn's Cottage.
References
{{reflist}}
{{coord|55.4276|-4.6345|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}
Category:Museums in South Ayrshire
Category:Biographical museums in Scotland
Category:Museums established in 1903