Renovations have now been completed at Scotland’s oldest independent museum.
More than £150,000 of repairs have been carried out to Elgin Museum to improve the condition of the building.
Work has been ongoing since November last year with the roof and exterior of the building being upgraded to protect historic collections housed there for future generations.
The museum does not receive council funding and relied on grants from the Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme, Moray Leader and the volunteers’ own fundraising efforts to raise the £175,000 needed to pay for the renovations.
Museum volunteer Edna Cameron said: “This building was first built in 1836 so its very old.
“Before this project, we realised that the sandstone needed some care alongside the roof as water sometimes leaked through.
“Now the main museum building renovations have been completed with all the high level exterior work pretty much done. However, there’s still some work at ground level to be done.”
Elgin Museum is a Grade A-Listed building and attracts tourists from across the world.
Its most popular attractions include the Pictish stone collection, including the Dandaleith Stone, and the Recognised Collection of Fossils and artefacts from local archaeological digs at Birnie and Clarkly Hill.
Now volunteers are looking at other ways to raise money for work to be carried out on the museum hall at the side of the building.
Ms Campbell said: “It can be very expensive working with an old building and we don’t get any money from the council.
“We need to generate our own money through grants and fundraising. There is free entry to the museum but we like to encourage visitors to make a donation to help us improve the place.”
Elgin Museum is owned and managed by The Moray Society.
Past refurbishments include an extension at the back in 1896 followed by the addition of the hall in 1921. The main gallery underwent an overhaul with Heritage Lottery Funding in 2003.