Groam House Museum

Groam House Museum An outstanding centre of Pictish and Celtic art in Ross-shire featuring 15 carved Pictish stones all found in or around the village of Rosemarkie.

Groam House is an award-winning, independent museum in the seaside village of Rosemarkie on the Black Isle. We are situated on the High Street, on what would have been part of an important early Christian monastery enclosure 1250 years ago. Our centrepiece is the magnificent 2.6m high Rosemarkie cross-slab, an 8th century sculpted stone elaborately carved with enigmatic Pictish symbols and Christi

an crosses. It’s one of the most impressive and important stones on The Highland Pictish Trail. If you’ve never seen it, we guarantee you’ll be amazed at the intricacy and skill of the carving. It makes you realise what an important early Christian site Rosemarkie was. In addition to the Rosemarkie cross-slab and other Pictish sculpted stones, Groam House Museum cares for the collection of Celtic Art teacher George Bain (1881-1968). He was an inspiration for all lovers of Celtic design and his collection is now officially recognized as being of National Significance. We also have a small but important local history collection consisting mainly of photographs and documents but including a treasure trove of archaeological finds dating from prehistoric times to the 1800s. We are a registered charity, managed by a Board of Trustees and advised by museum specialists. We are determined to keep free entry to our museum therefore we rely on donations, fundraising events, shop sales and membership fees to survive. Our small part-time staff team is helped by a lively, enthusiastic group of volunteers and we all work together to achieve our mission:

to offer our visitors and followers a window into a past world, bringing our objects and their stories to life through our permanent displays, exhibitions, events and activities.

We are extending our opening hours! From 15th June you can start exploring our museum from 10:30am every day!Our new Vis...
10/06/2026

We are extending our opening hours! From 15th June you can start exploring our museum from 10:30am every day!
Our new Visitor Assistants are very excited to welcome you to our new George Bain Exhibition ‘The Continuous Line’, which will open on the same day.
See you at Groam House Museum!

This week we have something very interesting. George Bain saw the use of a single continuous line in Pictish interlace a...
09/06/2026

This week we have something very interesting. George Bain saw the use of a single continuous line in Pictish interlace and knotwork as a symbol of eternity.

This is a poster on paper that is 53.7cm wide and 83.8cm high and dates between 1920 to 1945. It has crayon and pencil and is part of a mosaic that he drew having seen the mosaic at Chedworth Roman villa in England. An unequal number of turns creates an infinite number of interlaces or border. If you look carefully there are 6 edges on the top but only five on the bottom.

New arrivals in the Groam House Museum shop! Just in time for the new George Bain exhibition, we are delighted to launch...
08/06/2026

New arrivals in the Groam House Museum shop! Just in time for the new George Bain exhibition, we are delighted to launch a new collection inspired by George Bain.

You can even message us to order online:
• George Bain 2027 Calendar
• Set of 10 Greeting Cards
• George Bain Jigsaw
• Toorie Bunnet & Cowl Knitting Kits

Every purchase supports the museum and helps us continue sharing the stories, art, and history of Rosemarkie.

There’s something strangely emotional about exhibition changeover days.The final visitor leaves.Labels come off the wall...
07/06/2026

There’s something strangely emotional about exhibition changeover days.
The final visitor leaves.
Labels come off the walls.
Objects are wrapped and packed away.
And the gallery suddenly feels very quiet.
Today was the final day of Stories from the Soil at Groam House Museum.
Over the next week we’ll be preparing the upstairs space for our upcoming exhibition:
George Bain: The Continuous Line, opening 15 June at 10:30am.

Just to note - this isn’t the official exhibition announcement yet, so stay tuned 👀

For the next week, visitors can still enjoy our permanent displays and Pictish stones downstairs, while the upstairs exhibition gallery is temporarily closed for installation.

Thank you to everyone who visited Stories from the Soil, shared memories, asked questions, and voted for their favourite objects 💛

Behind every museum is an invisible web of knowledge, records, systems, stories, and care.Groam House Museum is seeking ...
05/06/2026

Behind every museum is an invisible web of knowledge, records, systems, stories, and care.

Groam House Museum is seeking two freelance specialists to support an important short term digital resilience and governance project this summer:

• Freelance Digital Governance Consultant (ca 5 days)
• Freelance Digital Administrator (ca 10 days)

This work will help strengthen the museum’s long-term sustainability, improve digital organisation and succession planning, and support the future care of our collections, archives, and institutional knowledge.

We are particularly interested in hearing from people with experience in:

digital governance
information management
Google Workspace
archives or heritage organisations
GDPR and organisational systems
nonprofit or museum administration

Both roles are primarily remote with flexible scheduling.

📍 Groam House Museum, Rosemarkie
📅 Deadlines:
Consultant - 14 June
Administrator - 21 June

For the full role description of the Digital Governance Consultant visit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_7pmvK_wzZ3VhogRZpgTwG2UD3VzLhCV/view?usp=sharing

For the full role description of the Digital Administrator visit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1orOM8T9FNvriBxmiusqNpfuJcibdb6Sv/view?usp=sharing

This project is supported by Museums Galleries Scotland and by the Social Enterprise Academy through Towards a Thriving Sector – a development project for heritage organisations, made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players.

This week we have something slightly different. It is work from George Bain, which gives an insight into how some of tho...
02/06/2026

This week we have something slightly different. It is work from George Bain, which gives an insight into how some of those amazing patterns developed. This is an example from the ‘Book of Kells’.
It is fascinating to see how the different stages develop to make up the knots and interlacing designs. Note how the final stages come together to create an interlacing pattern.
In this example, Bain explains that many similar designs are found on cross slab stones in Fife, Angus and Perthshire.

Tomorrow is the first of the Groam House Museum 2026 online lecture series. Join GHM’s Alastair Morton, who will speak a...
27/05/2026

Tomorrow is the first of the Groam House Museum 2026 online lecture series. Join GHM’s Alastair Morton, who will speak about what may have been George Bain's most productive period.
Bain, the “father of modern Celtic design”, retired to Drumnadrochit in 1946 and set about trying to establish a “College of Celtic Cultures”. One of his many activities was designing Celtic rugs for Quayle and Tranter Ltd. Last year Alastair spoke about the rug designs that went into commercial production. In this talk he will look at the other known designs but also at what can be gleaned from Bain’s correspondence about his other activities in retirement. In some ways this was his most productive period.

📅 Thursday 28 May 7.30 - 9.30pm
Cost: £3.96 (concession) - £7.21 (general)

To book:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/celtic-rug-design-and-george-bains-life-in-retirement-online-talk-tickets-1986079143181?aff=ebdsoporgprofile&_gl=1*17xb2mv*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTI1NDM0NjE0Mi4xNzc5MTkxODQw*_ga_TQVES5V6SH*czE3NzkxOTE4MzckbzEkZzAkdDE3NzkxOTE4MzckajYwJGwwJGgw

This is a very large drawing by George Bain which is spread across three pages which are glued together. It is a drawing...
26/05/2026

This is a very large drawing by George Bain which is spread across three pages which are glued together. It is a drawing depicting Chi Rhio from the Book of Kells and is drawn in pencil and black ballpoint pen. The Book of Kells dates back to 800AD and this image predates the nativity story described by St Matthew. Chi Rhio I is an abbreviation for Christ.

Welcome to Groam House Museum Lecture Series 2026! Join us for an online lecture series exploring the archaeology, histo...
20/05/2026

Welcome to Groam House Museum Lecture Series 2026! Join us for an online lecture series exploring the archaeology, history and art of the Black Isle and the wider early medieval world. Talks are delivered by leading researchers and specialists and are followed by an opportunity for questions.

In the first lecture of the series, GHM’s Alastair Morton will speak about what may have been George Bain's most productive period. Bain, the “father of modern Celtic design”, retired to Drumnadrochit in 1946 and set about trying to establish a “College of Celtic Cultures”. One of his many activities was designing Celtic rugs for Quayle and Tranter Ltd. Last year Alastair spoke about the rug designs that went into commercial production. In this talk he will look at the other known designs but also at what can be gleaned from Bain’s correspondence about his other activities in retirement. In some ways this was his most productive period.

📅 Thursday 28 May 7.30 - 9.30pm
Cost: £3.96 (concession) - £7.21 (general)

To book:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/celtic-rug-design-and-george-bains-life-in-retirement-online-talk-tickets-1986079143181?aff=ebdsoporgprofile&_gl=1*17xb2mv*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTI1NDM0NjE0Mi4xNzc5MTkxODQw*_ga_TQVES5V6SH*czE3NzkxOTE4MzckbzEkZzAkdDE3NzkxOTE4MzckajYwJGwwJGgw

Have you ever wondered what skills it takes to be a metal detectorist? Perseverance, researching the area you are search...
19/05/2026

Have you ever wondered what skills it takes to be a metal detectorist? Perseverance, researching the area you are searching, obtaining permission from the landowner, listening and identifying different audio tones, tolerance of all types of weather, resilience and the patience to dig up items in difficult places. Those are just a few of the qualities needed and a local detectorist Paul Smith has used all of these skills as he found the Munlochy Coin Hoard which is currently on display until the end of May in the museum. It is a stunning display of coins.
We would like to convey our grateful thanks to Paul for his hard work and patience which resulted in this amazing find which is believed to have been buried for centuries and was scattered over an area of six metres. It required several visits, was difficult to detect and is a credit to Paul's detecting skills and knowledge.

The hoard was acquired for the museum collection with support from the National Fund for Acquisitions and generous donors.

Address

High Street
Rosemarkie
IV108UF

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