Burns Cottage Museum was proud to unveil a striking new addition to its displays on Friday 13 September. The museum, which already houses the world's most important Burns collection, is now home to a 12-foot long model, recreating the historic landscape of Alloway at the time of the 1844 Burns Festival. The model was created by local model-maker, Tom Robertson, using 19th Century Ordnance Survey sheets and contemporary drawings from the museum's collection. The model shows Alloway at a time when its rural landscape was far less developed than today and was much as the young Robert Burns would have known it, almost a century earlier. Visitors will delight in picking out some of the well-known landmarks of Alloway, such as Burns Cottage and the Auld Brig o'Doon, as well as some of the historic buildings associated with Burns' family, such as Doonholm House, where the poet's father, William, worked to raise money to build Burns Cottage.

As well as providing a fascinating step back into the history of Burns Country, the model will provide a useful point of orientation for visitors to Alloway and hopefully encourage them to explore the rich heritage of the area. It is hoped that the model will take pride of place in the planned re-developed Burns Cottage Museum. £2.28 million in funding is currently being sought by Burns National Heritage Park to create new displays, conservation and stores and visitor facilities to ensure the survival of the world's most important Robert Burns Collection. For mor information about the museum re-development, contact the curator, Elinor Clark at elinor@burnsheritagepark.com