HUNTERIAN MUSEUM MOVES

PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE FULL ISSUE PREV FULL ISSUE

V17 2014 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 17, Number 52, December 21, 2014, Article 31

The December 2014 issue of Money and Medals has an article by Donal Bateson titled Hunterian Moves, about the upcoming move of the numismatic collection offices at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. Here's an excerpt. -Editor

The Hunterian, including the numismatic collections, is moving to a new location at Kelvin Hall close to its current site on the main University of Glasgow campus at Gilmorehill.

The Hunterian Museum was first located in the house of its founder, Dr. William Hunter (1718-1783), in Great Windmill Street, London. Bequeathed to the University of Glasgow, it arrived in 1807 on the completion of a specially designed building by William Stark on the Old College site in the city centre near the cathedral. The University vacated this in 1870 for the more pleasant surroundings of the West End where George Gilbert Scott’s magnificent gothic building was constructed on Gilmorehill. This incorporated a new museum which continues to be the centre of the Hunterian collections.

The coins and medals are the only collection still stored in the Hunterian Museum. They are kept in the Coin Room which was specifically designed and built for this purpose in the 1870s. It must be one of the earliest examples of a purpose built public coin room.

Those who have visited will recall the climb up the stone staircase, the large metal door and the huge walk-in safe. The latter leads to one of the most frequently asked questions, “How was that brought in?” – in bits and welded seems to be the answer. In this safe is housed most of William Hunter’s own collection of over 30,000 specimens, the finest collection in late 18th century Britain and, as is often quoted, “second only to that of the French king”. As part of the original fittings of a listed building the safe will stay.

The main store will hold all the Hunterian collections together with the exception of the coins and medals. A new coin room will be constructed outside this. It will consist of an inner strong-room and curatorial work space connected to a coin library on the same level where students, researchers and visitors will be accommodated. Overall the size is much the same as at present in the Hunterian Museum but the new facility will be more convenient and pleasant to work in. Staff accommodation will be on a third floor.