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The old lifeboat house in Johnshaven, its tall blue doors open under the museum's sign.
Aberdeenshire

Johnshaven Heritage Museum

The village's own museum in its old lifeboat house of 1891, with a new exhibition every summer.

Welcome

Johnshaven was one of the largest fishing communities in Scotland, and the village keeps its own story in the Old Lifeboat House, built in 1891 in the middle of the village and now a listed building in the conservation area.

The museum is run by the Benholm and Johnshaven Heritage Society, a charity run by volunteers. Each summer, from April to September, they put together a new exhibition from the village's past: the fishing, the boats and the lifeboat, the families and the houses, the farms of Benholm inland.

It is small, and it makes a good start to a walk round the harbour, where lobster and crab are still landed and kept alive in tanks. The Lobster Shop and the Starfish Studio are a few steps away, and the Mill of Benholm is just up the road.

Round the cornerThe Lobster ShopLobster and crab from the Johnshaven boats, dressed and eaten on a bench by the harbour.1 min by roadSee itThe Lobster Shop on Fore Street, Johnshaven, its blue windows under a lobster sign.
Before you go

Open from April to September, with a new exhibition each summer, in the Old Lifeboat House.

Where
The Old Lifeboat House, Johnshaven.
Season
April to September.
Where it is

Johnshaven.

Close byAround Johnshaven.
  1. The old stone mill buildings of Benholm among autumn trees.Mill of BenholmA restored watermill near Johnshaven, with a café baking its own patisserie.2 miles5 min by road
  2. Sillyflatt Farm ShopA family farm shop above the North Sea between Inverbervie and Gourdon, selling its own lamb and food from within a hundred miles.4 miles6 min by road
  3. Battered fish and chips with lemon and tartare sauce from the Quayside.Quayside Restaurant & Fish Bar, GourdonFish and chips with a view over the harbour at Gourdon, from a fish bar on the West Quay, open Wednesday to Sunday from four until eight.4 miles7 min by road
  4. The blue surf boat Maggie Law on display inside the museum at Gourdon.The Maggie Law Maritime MuseumA little museum on Gourdon harbour built round the Maggie Law, a famous rescue surf boat.4 miles7 min by road
  5. Grassy dunes overlook a wide sandy beach with distant figures walkingSt Cyrus National Nature Reserve5 miles8 min by road
Directions
The Lobster Shop on Fore Street, Johnshaven, its blue windows under a lobster sign.RestaurantsThe Lobster ShopA step away
The Grassic Gibbon Centre's gabled front beside Arbuthnott Hall, picnic tables outside.AttractionsLewis Grassic Gibbon Centre7.4 miles
RAF Tornado ZD744 stored in a hangar with squadron crests on the wallAttractionsMontrose Air Station Museum8.5 miles
AttractionsMontrose Playhouse9.2 miles
Tables and shelves of books in Ink & Quill, Montrose.ShoppingInk & Quill Bookshop9.3 miles
The painted front of the Funky Wee Teapot ceramic painting studio in Montrose.CafeThe Funky Wee Teapot9.4 miles
Two golfers on a coastal tee, one mid-swing overlooking a sandy bayAttractionsMontrose Golf Links9.5 miles
The shopfront of Lilybank Bakehouse on Montrose High Street.CafeLilybank Bakehouse9.5 miles
Restaurant tables laid with cutlery beneath hanging plants, overlooking coastal dunes at duskRestaurantsRoo's Leap9.6 miles
Stay nearby

Places to stay near Johnshaven Heritage Museum, and when each is next free.

Timber cabin with metal roof and decking surrounded by woodland treesNorth Lodge and River Cabin
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Banchory
  • 15 miles from Johnshaven Heritage Museum
Free 11–13 NovA stone farmhouse covered in climbing ivy stands behind a gravel drive, seen through overhanging pine branches.Cuttieshillock
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Strachan
  • 15 miles from Johnshaven Heritage Museum
Free 16–18 OctA stone cottage with dormer windows sits behind a low blue gate, a rose-covered archway framing the front door.Gamekeeper’s Cottage
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Strachan
  • 15 miles from Johnshaven Heritage Museum
Free 2–4 NovA stone steading with a slated pyramid roof and a chimney stands behind a green nameplate sign, a chair visible through the window.No 2 Steading Cottage at Glendye
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Strachan
  • 15 miles from Johnshaven Heritage Museum
Free 18–20 OctPlaces to stayEvery stay in AberdeenshireAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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