Methil Heritage Centre: a short history

Methil Heritage Centre is a small local history museum and exhibition venue, situated in the coastal town of Methil in Central Fife.

The Centre has a small staff of one full time curator, an administrative assistant and a Heritage Centre assistant. There is also have a lively group of volunteers who contribute to many areas of the Centre's work. Annually the Centre receives around 5 - 7000 people through the door.

In 1998 the responsibility for funding MHC was taken up by Fife Council and, since that time, the Centre has operated as a full part of Fife Museums Service with its head quarters at Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery. However, from its opening in late 1994 until Fife Council took over, the Centre functioned as an independent museum, supported by but not part of the local authority.

The site of the Methil Heritage Centre in 1900 (Looking from harbour Wynd towards the High Street)

The money to fund the Centre initially came through an EU initiated scheme known as the Urban Programme. This scheme essentially offered financial help to areas or communities that were economically depressed and suffering from many of the social problems associated with this.

In 1992, Lower Methil was identified as just such an area and money was provided to help revive the local economy and improve the physical and social environment in which people were living. This money was managed by a genuinely representative group of local people with the support of Fife Council.

One of the ideas initiated by the group was to interpret the social and cultural heritage of the area for local people and visitors. So, with the support of Kirkcaldy Museum, a temporary Heritage Centre was set up in the town's old post office building. This project proved to be extremely successful and very popular with local people.

This red sandstone building was formerly the Methil Post office (Built 1936)

As a result of this success, it was decided to establish a permanent Centre with professional staff. The money was administered by a Trust made up of ordinary local people. Unfortunately, in 1996/97, the Urban Programme was shut down and with it went the principal funding source for the Centre. It was at this point that Fife Council felt that it was a facility worth keeping and took over complete financial and managerial control.

Over the last 5 years, Methil Heritage Centre has earned a reputation for tackling many of the problems associated with social exclusion. The focus for the Centre has always been to provide a service which is genuinely accessible to as wide a range of people as possible, and to include service users in many aspects of the Centre's work. One of the Centre's principal drives has been to encourage the use of the facility by young people in both educational and recreational settings.

As well as interpreting the social and cultural history of the area, an important part of the Centre's work has been to bring examples of cultural experience and creative work from throughout the country to Methil, and make them directly and easily accessible to people throughout the area.

The focus on accessibility, coupled with the high professional standards required of any Fife Council museum has also attracted visitors from far and wide. MHC is an important part of the tourist infrastructure in Central Fife and has been awarded 'Commended' status through the STB visitor attraction scheme. Since joining with Fife Council the Centre's role within Fife Museums Service has been developed to include service provision to a larger geographical area, and an increased commitment to developing its arts remit.