Dunbeath Heritage Centre provides a focus for the work of Dunbeath Preservation Trust: a research base; a repository for research data, manuscripts, photographs and items of local material culture; an exhibition and interpretation space; a venue for lectures, storytelling and workshops; a gathering place for local people and visitors – young and old – alike. The Centre has recently been awarded full museum status by the Museums and Galleries Commission in recognition of its professional standards of curatorship, conservation and display along with the significance of its collections.
Dunbeath Preservation Trust was founded in 1985 by the then owner of Dunbeath Estate, the late R. Stanton Avery, “to support efforts to explore, study, preserve and maintain” the unique natural and cultural heritage of Dunbeath and its strath in harmony with its ongoing contemporary community. Avery’s bequest assists the long-term viability of the Trust, its Heritage Centre and other resources for the “educational and other charitable purposes” he intended.