Wick Heritage Museum: Complete Visitor Guide

Summary

Wick Heritage Museum in the North Highlands aims to promote the town’s history and culture through a collection of exhibits and artefacts.

The museum is located inside a large townhouse near Wick harbour where it showcases displays of Caithness glass, recreations of traditional housing, exhibits from the town’s long fishing industry and much more.

The highlights

1: The Wick Heritage Museum is a genuine Tardis inside. You’ll be kept busy for ages.

2: The exhibits and displays are very well done but I have to give an additional mention to the collections of restored photographs which are incredibly detailed for their age.

3: The museum is a great way to get a deeper understanding of the north of Scotland and as it’s so close to the town centre you’ll be able to go for a wee wander through the town as you make your way back to the car park.

Visiting tips

1: I recommend chips from the Harbour chippy just down the road – you’ll pass it if you follow the harbour wall back into the town centre.

2: Car parking on the road is limited but you might be lucky enough to find a roadside space. Alternatively, there are a couple of car parks in the town centre that are a 10-minute walk from the museum.

3: Castle Sinclair is a 15-minute drive away and it’s well worth visiting for dramatic coastal views, but if you really want an amazing view head 16 miles north to the mightily impressive Duncansby Stacks.

Overview

I wonder how many people decide they’re going to drive the North Coast 500 and include a detour to the town of Wick in their ‘places-to-visit’ itinerary? Not many I bet.

To be fair, it’s understandable why people give it a miss.

As one of the larger towns near John O’Groats it’s usually just used for filling the car and grabbing a sausage roll before getting back on the open road, but there’s more to Wick than first meets your eye if you take the time to wander around it.

I will admit, though, that Wick doesn’t look particularly inviting if you visit it on a cold, damp winter’s day as I did.

The town used to be at the forefront of Scotland’s herring fisheries, but changing eating habits mean this industry is now a shadow of its former self.

But don’t dismiss Wick just yet, because there are a few attractions that are well worth hanging around for.

First off, the coastline north and south of Wick is lovely and offers plenty of walks along shingle beaches and dramatic clifftops.

I got the impression from talking to fellow tourists that they’d rather push on inland than bother to spend any time in this corner of Scotland, but let me assure you the scenery around Wick is as nice as any other you’ll find on the east coast.

The second thing I like about Wick is that it’s home to one of my favourite single malts – Old Pulteney – which has a great guided tour around the distillery with a dram at the end, all for a reasonable price.

And the third top-tourist thing about the town is that it’s home to one of the best hidden gems of an attraction that I’ve had the pleasure of visiting for quite some time.

The Wick Heritage Museum sits in an unremarkable building close to Wick harbour that’s all too easy to miss if you don’t actively look for it.

In fact, the only reason I knew it was there is because I’d previously stumbled onto a load of very positive Tripadvisor reviews that were coupled with photos taken by enthusiastic tourists.

Stand outside the building and you’ll be forgiven for thinking that a visit to this museum will take all of five minutes, but let me tell you a secret about it. It’s absolutely enormous inside. I mean, Doctor Who Tardis-sized enormous.

Honestly, I don’t know how they manage to cram so much stuff in there but room after room seems to stretch on forever in a never-ending labyrinth of memorabilia and historic displays.

It’s all genuinely impressive, especially so considering the entire museum has been lovingly put together by volunteers from the Wick Society.

It’s obvious a lot of care and attention has gone into creating the displays too.

The society has been actively involved in protecting and promoting Wick’s heritage since 1971 and what they have on offer today is a complete introduction to the town and its halcyon herring fishing days.

Herring was fished out of Wick from the early 19th century and shortly thereafter the town became one of the foremost herring fisheries in the world, with the small harbour crowded with hundreds of boats unloading their daily catch.

Much of the museum is dedicated to the old fishing industry and you’ll see exhibits from those days inside most of the rooms, with the fishing hall even housing a few of the original boats that were used back in the 19th and 20th centuries – complete with life-size models captaining them.

Other displays feature beautiful glassware from the Caithness Glass Company that at one time was a world leader in glass blowing. Many of the handmade items are genuine works of art and are a testament to the skills of the craftsmen who made them.

It’s sad then that like the herring industry Wick’s glass-making industry also died out, but perhaps it’ll be revived one day. Here’s hoping.

Tourist information

I mentioned earlier you might consider popping into Wick if you’re driving the North Coast 500, but if you’re a new visitor to Scotland you probably don’t know what the route is all about so I’ll give you a quick overview before getting back to the heritage museum.

The route broadly follows the north coast of Scotland over 500 miles (well, obviously) from Inverness on the eastern side across the country to the west and up, over, and back down on roads that offer an utterly unique touring experience.

The coastal road gives visitors the chance to see the very best of Scotland in a complete circular tour that takes in the regions of Wester Ross, Sutherland, Caithness, Easter Ross, the Black Isle and Inverness-Shire with unparalleled views at each step of the journey.

The coastal scenery in this part of the country is absolutely jaw-dropping but in addition to the scenery you’ll get the chance to explore beautiful castles, see Scotland’s wildlife up close, and experience some of the best tourist attractions in the country (especially the whisky distilleries…).

I honestly can’t rate a tour of the NC500 highly enough so if you’d like to know more about it your first port of call should be the official NC500 website which has a detailed map of the route along with details of what you can do in each section.

Anyway, back to Wick and the museum. As I already mentioned there’s a lot to see as you explore the never-ending maze of rooms, but to my mind one of the best exhibitions is the collection of restored photographs that capture life in the area from the early 1860s all the way up to the 1970s.

These photos show the people of Caithness (the county that Wick is in) as they went about their normal day-to-day lives and they’re a fantastic glimpse into the past that you’re unlikely to see anywhere else.

Most of these old photos centre around fishing activities but it’s genuinely fascinating to see people prepare the boats, land the catches and process the fish before packing them into thousands upon thousands of barrels.

Other sections of the museum feature displays of typical homes that you’d find in the 20th century with fully furnished rooms full of genuine household items from traditional box beds to cast iron pots and pans.

It’s a real nostalgic treat, especially if you’re of a certain age and remember the house your grandparents had when you were little.

Other treats include displays of old musical instruments, Victorian clothing, old photographic equipment, printing machinery, military memorabilia, and even an 1800s-style classroom.

Thankfully, with all those exhibits there are volunteers on hand to answer any questions you might have – all of whom seem to be extraordinarily enthusiastic about their museum.

It’s great to see people choosing to spend their free time keeping their heritage alive and I urge you to have a chat with them if you have the time as you’ll no doubt hear a few stories about Wick that you wouldn’t otherwise discover.

To sum up, the Wick Heritage Museum really is a genuine Alladin’s cave of memorabilia that should be at the top of your list of things to do if you ever visit the town, and I reckon the entrance price is more than reasonable considering the amount of time you’ll end up spending in there.

If you’d like a nice countryside walk after a visit to the museum check out Causeymire Wind Farm.

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Things to do nearby

Wick. Wick KW1 5EN. 9-minute walk to the town centre. One of the largest towns in Caithness, a hundred years ago it had one of the busiest herring fishing industries in the world.

Today, many visitors use Wick as a base to explore the remote surrounding area. The town centre has modern conveniences such as food stores, restaurants and petrol stations.

Duncansby Head. Wick KW1 4YS. 28-minute drive A promontory that is within walking distance of John O’Groats and is officially the most northern part of Britain. There is a historic lighthouse with a visitor car park and the trail to the impressive Duncansby Sea Stacks offers stunning clifftop walks.

John O’ Groats. John o’ Groats, Wick KW1 4YR. 23-minute drive. Often cited incorrectly as the most northern point of the UK, John O’Groats has developed a tourist resort around the famous signpost that marks the distance to various locations around the world. There are cafés, shops and restaurants on the site.

Nybster. Nybster, Wick KW1 4XR. 16-minute drive. A much-visited coastal region that has a variety of wildlife walks along the seafront where visitors can watch puffins, seals and a variety of seabirds. There are also several brochs (ancient fortifications) in the area.

Hill O’ Many Stanes. A99, Lybster KW3 6BA. 13-minute drive. A historic landmark close to the A99 that comprises a collection of ancient low-lying stones. The elevated position offers views across Caithness and the North Sea.

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