Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Community owners of iconic Dufftown clock tower hope to transform it into a museum

Chairman of Dufftown Community Association, Fraser McGill with the clock tower in the background.
Chairman of Dufftown Community Association, Fraser McGill with the clock tower in the background.

The community owners of Dufftown’s deteriorating iconic clock tower are on a fundraising mission to transform the landmark into a museum to showcase the town’s rich history.

The Dufftown Community Association officially took over ownership of the building in March 2020 after purchasing the tower from Moray Council’s Community Good Fund with the aim of restoring the landmark.

Since 1839, the clock tower has served many purposes – including serving as the town’s jail – and the clock was brought to the region from Banff.

Another story attached to it concerns the tale of loveable rogue James Macpherson getting hung in November 1700, the clock was moved forward 15 minutes before his reprieve arrived.

In the past 50 years, the building has been left empty and began to fall into disrepair.

Now, the association want to turn the building into a tourist attraction.

Community takeover bid of Dufftown landmark wins approval

Owner of The Gables Whisky B&B Anne Jan Zandstra is spearheading major efforts to open up the landmark for visitors and locals to find out more about the town’s history.

Mr Zandstra explained: “If we can get the council on board then we should be able to make a museum in the first three floors at least.

“The museum would be the best option and the clock tower has something magical about it and if the tower wasn’t there, it would just be an empty square.

“The Dufftown tower is in decay and that’s a shame.

“All tourists who visit the town want to go into the tower but they can’t and for 50 years the building has mainly been empty.”

The business owner has started the process with Historic Environment Scotland to attempt to get some grant funding to help with the costs which are expected to be quite high to restore the clock tower.

Dufftown clock tower.

The landmark continues to be popular with visitors and locals.

Mr Zandstra added: “Any support is greatly appreciated and we are hoping to raise as much money as possible.

Dufftown and District Community Association chairman Fraser McGill added: “I am pleased to be part of the future use of the Dufftown clock tower.

“The clock tower  is clearly a building that is dear to everybody’s heart and to see it be a vocal point for future generations to come would be pleasing for everyone involved.”

App sparked idea to transform clock tower into museum

Meanwhile, work is well underway to create a historical app to help whisky loving tourists learn more about the Moray town’s history.

Mr Zandstra said: “The student assigned for the app has got three months extra time due to current circumstances.

“Therefore the app will be ready in August.

“A professional voice-over artist has worked through all the stories I provided and it is really starting to look like a professional app.

“For the app I have done a lot of research and found out all about the rich history and this sparked the idea that the tower would be an excellent place for people visiting to find out more about the town.

To donate, people can visit www.gofundme.com/f/restore-dufftown-clock-tower