Published 24 May 2023

Dumbarton 800th Anniversary celebrations to conclude with a 21 gun salute at Dumbarton Castle.

The salute will be the last set of events marking the year-long celebrations for Dumbarton’s 800th Anniversary are coming to a close this July.

West Dunbartonshire Council’s Arts and Heritage team have been delivering activities to mark Dumbarton’s Octocentenary year. This has included a series of successful ‘8 for 800’ talks at Dumbarton Heritage Centre, celebrating some of the most important objects from the council’s museum collections, including rare medieval manuscripts from the archive and the early Christian ‘Skellat bell’ – one of the oldest objects in the collection.

The council have been working in partnership with West College Scotland (WCS) and Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to deliver activities to mark the occasion. A special exhibition project coordinated with the graphic design students at WCS will take place in Dumbarton’s Heritage Centre during July to conclude the year.

Work also continues to develop stories of the High Street to be used as part of the Regeneration team’s activity to transform the town centre in the wider context of Dumbarton’s LUF project. This will include drawing on resources from the Council’s Local History collections.  

Councillor Martin Rooney, Convenor of Culture Committee, said: “The anniversary celebrations have been a wonderful opportunity for the people of Dumbarton to learn and celebrate our rich history and cultural heritage. It’s really important that we mark these occasions and remember how far we’ve came in the last 800 years.”

Councillor June McKay, vice-Convenor of Culture Committee, said: “I think as a community we are left with a deep sense of pride in our towns rich history after celebrating this last year. I hope going forward we can continue to honour our past while looking forward to a bright future for Dumbarton.”

The 800th anniversary events are set to finish with a 21 Gun Salute with a date to be confirmed soon.