Welcome to our virtual Museum and Tours
A selection of tours and 360 images of the Museum and buildings preserved by the Trust.
Virtual Tour of the Trust Museum and Garden at 12 North Street
The Museum building dates from the early 17th century however there was almost certainly another building on this site in earlier times. The John Geddy map from 1580 shows a building on this site and suggests it was already a two-storey structure. The building is of a rubble construction with a crow stepped gable, a pantiled roof and a moulded doorway.
There were ten more owners before the Trust took ownership in 1962. Many occupants were fisher families or merchants and the owner would not necessarily have lived here but rented the property. The 1841 report by John Adamson on the sanitary conditions of St Andrews did much to make clear the appalling state of fishermen’s dwellings. The building was split into four rooms each accommodating a family, causing unsanitary and overcrowded living conditions.
By 1937, Nos. 12-20 North Street were condemned and would have been demolished were it not for the work of local architect Mr James Hoey Scott, who turned the buildings into his home. The Trust bought Nos. 12-20 North Street from Scott in 1962 and sold Nos. 16-20, retaining half the house as Trust headquarters. Over the years the Trust hosted exhibitions in the house and in 1981 the house was opened to the public as a social history museum.
360 Images of South Castle Street, St Andrews
11 South Castle Street, also know as ‘Joan’s House’, is a small two-storey dwelling with outside stair thought to have been built in the early 18th century. It was called Joan’s house after the last St Andrews’ fishwife, who had lived there. The house was purchased by the Trust in 1939 for restoration however work was delayed owing to the outbreak of the Second World War (1939 – 1945) and the threat of demolition under the Burgh Development Plan. However, in 1964 permission was finally granted for renovation of the property. The house was then sold for incorporation into the adjoining house.
360 Images of Bogward Doocot, St Andrews
The Bogward Doocot occupies a prominent position west of St Andrews on Doocot Road. The structure is built of harled rubble and is of the ‘beehive’ type common in 16th century Scotland. It is thought to have been built by the Priory of St Andrews which owned the land at the time. The Doocot provided the Priory with meat, eggs and natural fertiliser from the pigeons
The ‘beehive’ is so named from its resemblance to bee-skeps or hives. Inside, the doocot contains around 800 nesting boxes and a revolving ladder known as a potence. The ladder is attached to a plinth in the middle of the doocot that provides 360 degree access to the highest nesting boxes. The lower levels are kept clear of nesting boxes to allow for the buildup of fertilizer.
TheBogward Doocot was restored by the St Andrews Preservation Trust between 1962 and 1974 and was allocated Grade A listed status by Historic Environment Scotland in 1971.
360 Images of 141 South Street Courtyard, St Andrews
141 South Street is an early 18th century three-storey building purchased by the Trust in 1959. It is located on the north side of a courtyard known as ‘Burgher’s Close’, from the second Burgher Kirk which occupied its west side from 1774-1826.
Allocated Grade B listed status by Historic Environment Scotland in 1959, the ‘condemned’ dwelling was fully restored by the Trust between 1962 and 1964 under the direction of architect Mr William Murray Jack. Features of the property include a Masonic porch and an outside stair. The property was eventually sold in 1986.
Tour of Boase Wood, Lade Braes, St Andrews
The Boase Wood Comprises 1.3 acres at the western end of the Lade Braes. The woodland was generously bequeathed to the St Andrews Preservation Trust in 1963 upon the death of its owner, Philip Boase.
Spring heralds in an explosion of snowdrops and daffodils, owing partly to the inclusion of the woodland area in a 2016 project to plant over 2,000 daffodils in green spaces across St Andrews. By summer, wild garlic and the bluebells of various delicate hues are locally renowned. Autumn brings a tapestry of colour, a carpet of conkers, and the grey – or even red – flash of a squirrel. In the depths of winter, the quiet heron can just be spotted, camouflaged against the frost, and the not-so-quiet mallards quack hopefully at passers-by. With so many wonders on offer all year round, the Preservation Trust is committed to protecting this precious woodland.