Located in the centre of Campbeltown, on the Kintyre Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute Council Area, Campbeltown Museum houses exhibits which range from archaeology, natural history, geology and architecture, social and industrial history, including the impact of fishing on the Campbeltown community. The archaeological collection includes numerous items found locally, representing Neolithic, Bronze Age and Viking times.
The museum is housed in a building constructed 1897-99 by Glasgow architect John James Burnet (1857 - 1938), which once contained the library and is now shared by council offices. The initiative to establish a library and museum came in the previous year from the Kintyre Scientific Association, today still active as the Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural History Society. Generous funding by James Macalister Hall, a local man who had made his fortune in India, is remembered by a plaque. Burnet's building is a masterpiece of Scots Renaissance architecture and today retains all of its original features, including timber panelling, chimney-pieces and decorative plasterwork. There is a memorial tablet to artist William McTaggart (1834 - 1910) and the museum's art collection includes two of his oil paintings.
Burnet's design included a loggia opening to a sheltered inner garden. This garden has since been redesigned and dedicated to the memory of American photographer and musician Linda McCartney (1941-98).
The museum is owned and operated by Argyll & Bute Council.
