Peterhead Prison Museum is a wonderful, although horrifying, place to visit. They offer an audio tour which talks you through the various buildings which used to operate as a high security prison.
A lot of the building is left as it was when the prison got shut down, although some mannequins, with a variety of bizarre and often disturbing masks, have been added to “bring it to life”!
The first time I visited was a private tour back in 2017 and we were lucky enough to be joined by Jackie Stuart who spoke to us about his time as a Prison Officer. There had been riots back in 1987 and he had been taken hostage on the roof, and held for quite some period of time. Eventually the SAS swept in and rescued him, but it was quite an ordeal. Unfortunately he has now passed away but there are recordings from him included in the audio tour, and I finally got a copy of his book so am looking forward to reading that.
The museum shows off the various aspects of life in the prison: from the cells with their sparse hammocks, to the gym and crafts areas where the prisoners could relax. From the kitchens and laundry where they were put to work, to the hospital where they were cared for when ill or considered at risk to themselves due to mental health.
Lots of the original furnishings are still there such as the massive washing machines and the fax machine in the guard office. Some of the buildings have suffered water ingress which adds to the eeriness of the environment.
There are four notable recent additions specifically for the museum. There is an art gallery put together with Fife College, which offers some welcome bright and cheerful art work to look at. There is a very detailed model railway based on the nearby Stirling Hill Quarry where prisoners were taken to work on breaking up the granite. There is a cafe, based in the prison hospital building. Although the cakes looked delicious, the cafe well kept and the staff welcoming, I did not have much of an appetite after walking through the prison halls. I did enjoy the lifeboat exhibition, in a hall specially built to house RNLI’s boat: the Julia Park Barry of Glasgow. The displays along the back wall detailed its operation out of Peterhead harbour, including an informative video with actual footage of the lifeboat in action. The cafe and Lifeboat Museum are both available to anyone for free entry, quite apart from the main prison museum.
Considering most people will travel to get to the museum, I would advise pre booking, it's well worth the ticket price. We were there for about 2.5 hours. The audio tour is easy to use with a paper map showing the route and the numbers to type into the small machine which is on a lanyard to wear around your neck. There's a choice of two different types of headset and I found mine rather comfortable, and was able to slip it down to round my neck when not using it.
A fascinating insight to what life in prison would have been, highlighting the stories of some of the inmates and staff. Perhaps not for the faint of heart, but there are warnings before the more horrific sights. My son went with his primary school some years ago and loved it! It's definitely a relief when you “escape” back to real life at the end, perhaps with a renewed determination to keep within the law!!
Peterhead Prison Museum have announced they are going to close for a while ahead of a relaunch. They are in need of financial support in order to continue. More details available: https://www.peterheadprison.com/2026/03/25/peterhead-prison-museum-to-close-in-april-as-plans-progress-for-future-of-site.
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Maria Robertson is an academic librarian by day and a concert reviewer by night, she also loves spending time with her family and they all enjoy visiting museums. Reviews published at: https://www.5d-blog.com/?s=maria+robertson