COMMUNITY
Archiving the past
HEN Oban celebrated 200 years as - ting that Oban Distillery was a part of the celebration.
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Built in 1974 by the Stevenson brothers, it is older than the town itself and the town centre as it is today has been built around the iconic distillery in Stafford Street. But despite being one of Diageo’s oldest dis- tilleries, the company’s archivists say Oban Distillery memorabilia is in short supply and has asked the town’s residents for help. Diageo archivist Joanne McKerchar was at the distillery during the Oban 200 celebrations and displayed records of Oban Distillery in its visi- tor centre. Ms McKerchar said: ‘The Diageo Archive holds records relating to more than 1,500 brands past and present, from those long established to more recent innovative brands such as Bai- leys Irish Cream.
The collections span 403 years of history with brands such as Bushmills Irish Whiskey hav- ing heritage and history dating back to 1608 and they tell the rich histories of these brands as well as our distillery sites, companies and people.
‘It would be great if we could encourage peo- ple to send items, photographs, and memo- ries to the archive.
Unfortunately the Oban archive collection is not as rich as others, and we would be grate- ful to anyone who can help us add to the Oban Distillery collection ‘Even if they don’t have anything they can hand
over to us, it would be great to get stories and accounts of what the distillery was like.’ The Stevensons, who built the distillery, re- sided there and ensured that the sitting room of their dwelling projected over the still house. There was also a peep-hole in the door so the proprietor could watch the progress of the work.
The founder of Oban Distillery, Hugh Steven- son became Oban’s second provost in 1819, when he transferred the business over to a son, Thomas, whose assets were seques- trated in 1829. It was offered for sale in 1830 and Thomas’ nephew, John Stevenson, bought the distillery and associated assets and he owned the busi- ness until 1866, three years before his death, when it was bought over by Peter Cumstie. The distillery changed hands again in 1883 to Walter Higgin and blossomed, thanks in part to the new scheduled passenger train service to Glasgow established three years previously. In 1890 the discovery of Mesolithic remains during renovation work was national news. The ‘cave’ found during rock blasting con- tained human bones and implements, now kept at the National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh. The entrance to the cave has been sealed to prevent vandalism.
If anyone would like to deposit anything in the archive, or if they would like further informa- tion, contact Joanne at
archives.menstrie@
diageo.com or post to Diageo Archive, Glen- ochil House, Menstrie, Clackmannanshire, FK11 7ES.
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