Loch Tay Highland Lodges has raised over £50 000 to support the rebuild of the Scottish Crannog Centre’s roundhouse from ashes…
The Scottish Crannog Centre’s old crannog burned down on Friday the 11th of June 2021. Loch Tay Highland Lodges initiated a crowdfunding effort to raise £50 000 to support the rebuild of the much-loved attraction.
The fundraising was a success with almost 1700 people supporting the cause.
The night the iconic crannog was destroyed marked a significant loss to Scotland’s underwater heritage. The recreated roundhouse was devastatingly destroyed within minutes after catching fire. The beloved Crannog centre provided an invaluable insight into Crannog dwellers’ lives in Iron Age. The attraction was not only important to locals but also loved by many tourists that came to Loch Tay to experience the educational living history museum. Fortunately, the fire was extinguished in less than an hour and the museum as well as the Iron Age village remain intact.
Mike Benson, the director of the Scottish Crannog Centre, states:
“Whilst we were all devastated following the fire the crannog community was boosted so much by the outpouring of love and support which has enabled us to continue doing what we do best-telling the inspirational stories of the Iron Age crannog dwellers all those years ago.
This will become part of our story, not the end of it as we look to stride into our future with this incredible and humbling community support behind us.
We very much would like to thank Jonathan and the team at Loch Tay Highland Lodges for setting up the crowd funding page so early and everyone who has contributed. We are open and hope folk will come along and see us. Finally, what can we say but a great big thank you to everyone.”
Jonathan Morley, Group Managing Director for Largo Leisure Holidays said:
“It was devastating to hear the news about the Scottish Crannog Centre. We have a strong, loyal social media following and customer base across Scotland so we did what we could to help. We initiated a Just Giving page to allow our customers to pledge a donation towards the emergency. We have been surprised and humbled to smash our target and receive so many donations. Many Thanks to all those who donated. We look forward to seeing the new Scottish Crannog Centre when it relocates to Dalreb.
The centre reopened just days after the fire, running tours daily of the collection of 2500 year old artefacts, and the Iron Age village, and delivering a series of sell out events such as their Midsummer Music Festival, and Romeo and Juliet. The Scottish Crannog Trust Charity is arranging to move the museum to Dalerb, a 12 acre site across the loch. The money raised will play a big role in helping with the associated costs. The historic crannog will rise again and continue to delight visitors, for years to come.
The Museum has also now set up their own Just Giving Campaign to continue raising funds for the new development - https://justgiving.com/campaign/crannog
For more information, visit: https://www.crannog.co.uk/