Hugh Miller’s Birthplace Cottage & Museum

• Explore the historic thatched cottage with a rare ‘hanging lum‘.
• Discover the fascinating collection of Hugh Miller’s fossils, tools and manuscripts in the museum.
• Look out for the sundial pedestal carved by Hugh himself.
• Don’t miss the letter written by Charles Darwin.

Fossil hunter, folklorist, man of faith, stonemason, geologist, editor, writer and social justice campaigner – Hugh Miller was one of the great Scots of the 19th century. His quests and writings have left a huge legacy of knowledge, but as these two adjacent properties testify, he came from ordinary beginnings.

The thatched cottage where Hugh was born in 1802 was built by Hugh’s great-grandfather – a pirate! The cobbled courtyard adjoining the cottage was an external working space. Next door, the handsome Georgian villa, now an interactive museum, was built by Hugh’s father – its distinctive central spiral staircase winds around a ship’s mast.

Outside, Miller’s Yard: Garden of Wonders is a sheltered corner where you can experience the amazing ancient worlds that fascinated Hugh Miller.