Banff Preservation and Heritage Society concerned about items to be removed from museum
A heritage group has raised concerns that historical items are to be removed from a town’s museum so they can be featured in a regional centre.
Banff Preservation and Heritage Society is concerned about three artefacts that are earmarked to be moved to the new Museum of Aberdeenshire which will be built in Peterhead.
The group has outlined that the items have more of a connection with Banff and should remain in the town’s museum.
It has created an online petition against the move which is now open for people to sign.
A society spokesperson said: “Aberdeenshire Museums staff, the project lead LLA (Cultural Tides Levelling Up Project), informed Banff Preservation and Heritage Society that they were going to remove three items from the Museum of Banff to place in the new museum in Peterhead.
“They were Banff’s Mercat Cross, Pieta stone from St Mary’s Kirkyard in Banff and a bronze socketed spearhead.
“This is on top of the James Ferguson collection which was not returned to the museum after the refurbishment, including the Nicholas Vallin clock, James Ferguson’s telescope, drawings and various other items.
“We met with Aberdeenshire Museums staff and expressed our disappointment and horror that it was planned to remove such key items from the Museum of Banff.
“Banff has a wonderful legacy of carved stones. Two of these are truly rare mediaeval pieces, the Pieta and the Mercat Cross.
“Both speak immediately of Banff, far more than of anywhere else. The cross is not merely a crucifix, but incorporates on the reverse of the cross the heraldry of Banff, the Virgin and Child.
“Just as Perth is St John’s Toun of Perth, Banff was Our Lady’s Town, and the town, through the centuries, in spite of the Reformation, kept loyal to the image of the Virgin and Child, and displayed it and reproduced it, on through the 17th century.
“The sensible late 20th century decision to move weathered stones indoors, and replace the cross with a replica, included the decision that the original Mercat Cross should be on display within easy walking distance of the new replica.
“The plaque at the Mercat Cross, saying this, specifies the Banff Museum, seen as the right place from the start.
“The Pieta is the only carved stone Pieta, the mother holding the dead Christ in her arms, in Scotland, and expresses the same sense of how the Virgin and her son were special to the self-identity of the royal and ancient burgh of Banff.
“No-one can claim the Pieta is typical of Aberdeenshire – it is unique to Banff.
“It was in our old St Mary’s Kirkyard before it came to the museum, and we are sadly reminded of how the second Earl Fife stole the tomb monument of a Provost of Banff from that kirkyard for his new mausoleum, to help provide himself with a fake ancestry.
“The Museum of Banff is much indebted to the Aberdeenshire Museum Service, but this is an issue not about the holdings of a local museum, but about the particular heritage of a town. These stones are part of what makes Banff, Banff.”
The James Ferguson collection was bought by the Institute for Science and Literature in Banff in 1864, the money raised by members of the institution and members of the public.
James Ferguson, the famous astronomer who started life in the Core of Mayen, Banffshire, now Moray, was a notable citizen of Banffshire.
One of the items is a Nicholas Vallin clock, owned by Benjamin Franklin (American scientist, author and statesman), John Theophilus Desaguliers (natural philosopher) and James Ferguson and is believed to have been altered by Ferguson.
These items were held by Dr Ebenezer Henderson in Fife who wrote a biography of James Ferguson and were purchased from him.
The James Ferguson collection was held in the museum of Banff from 1864 to 2016, when the museum underwent refurbishment as part of the regeneration project.
The spokesperson added: “They were not returned, despite protestations and requests and have been held in the storage space at Mintlaw ever since.
“The reason given for their none return was that they were in need of conservation and that they were not suitable for long-term display. They have not been conserved.
“We were told during the meeting with Aberdeenshire Museums staff that they will be displayed in the new museum for at least five years and that ‘they will never come back to Banff’.
“Levelling up money has been given to Aberdeenshire Council to develop a new museum in Peterhead but this shouldn’t be at the expense of other coastal towns, which have also been identified as areas in need of support and mentioned in the Cultural Tides document which led to the granting of the Levelling Up funds.
“We ask Aberdeenshire Museums staff to reconsider their plans to remove or keep these precious items from their home in Banff.
“Members of the Banff Preservation and Heritage Society are rightly proud of the exhibits, which draw people from all over the world, many having family history or connections here.”