Welcome to Oban War and Peace Museum
Our Aim
"The aim of the Museum is to advance the education of present and future generations by collecting, maintaining, conserving and exhibiting items of historical and cultural interest relating to the Oban area in peace time and during the war years."
Accreditation
Following a three and a half year project, funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, to document every item in our collection, the museum achieved Full Accreditation status. Accreditation is a set of national standards for UK museums for which published requirements must be met in how they care for and document their collections, how they are governed and managed, and on the information and services they offer to their users. The scheme is administered in Scotland by Museums Galleries Scotland.
Our MBE – the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service
June 2011 the museum was honoured to receive The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the MBE for groups of volunteers who work in their local community for the benefit of others. This prestigious UK National Honour recognises outstanding voluntary contributions and sets the national benchmark for excellence in volunteering, with the work of those awarded being judged to be of the highest standard.
The award was presented by HRH The Princess Royal during a memorable visit to the museum in July 2011 when she met many of our volunteers.
About the Museum
Oban War & Peace Museum is a Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee and is managed by a Board of volunteer Directors with our Collection being cared for by a volunteer Curator and Assistant. A team of volunteer ‘Watchkeepers’ man the public areas of the museum. In total well over 7000 volunteer hours are worked each year by a team of about 60 men and women of all ages.
The museum’s origins lie in an exhibition, 'Oban at War', mounted in 1995 by an enthusiastic team from the local community to mark the 50th anniversary of the ending of World War II. The exhibition was so popular with visitors and the local community that it became a permanent fixture and was renamed 'Oban War & Peace Museum' in 1996.
In the ensuing years the museum occupied various rented premises until in March 2004 it was able to purchase the ground floor of the Old Oban Times Building. Following a major refurbishment project the museum opened its doors to the public in March 2006 in much larger and permanent surroundings. This marked a turning point for the museum with the extra space enabling more of Oban’s interesting history to be displayed in addition to the wartime displays.
The museum is completely independent and does not receive any local government funding. Day to day running costs are covered by income from visitor donations, the sale of small gift items, local fundraising, the ‘Friends of the Museum’ scheme and donations in recognition of research work carried out by our volunteers.
The museum is honoured to have Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, KCVO, CB as its Patron.
See our Newsletter
Registered Charity No: SC029804
Company Registered No: SC251697
Our logo
Our logo, kindly designed for us by Ian Gowdie, depicts a central brown gun barrel to symbolise the wartime sacrifice and remembrance aspect of the museum while the white doves represent the peace aspect. The aircraft propeller reminds us of the Coastal Command personnel engaged in flying boat activities in the area during the war years.
