The project to bring a new museum and gallery to the ancient city of Dunfermline, which woefully undersells its impressive heritage, is making steady progress. The town was once Scotland’s capital and is the burial place of Robert the Bruce. It’s the home of Scotland’s only saint, Queen Margaret, and the birthplace of Andrew Carnegie, the world’s richest man and father of modern philanthropy. It was once also a global leader in the production of damask linen and it’s central geographic location means it has had a part to play in many of Scotland’s stories. It seems strange that such a place has no major no museum other than the one dedicated to Carnegie. The proposed new museum, with a design developed by Richard Murphy Architects and Fife Council, will sit next to another culturally important building, the world’s first Carnegie Library, one of the thousands of libraries gifted by Andrew Carnegie.

The £10.7 million project is to be funded in part by Fife Council and by the Carnegie Trust and there is now an anxious wait for news of further Heritage Lottery Funding in January. For more information, go to fifedirect.org.uk/futureheritage