Nairn Museum is set to be featured in a popular BBC documentary reality TV show today.
Nairn Museum Voluneer, Marilyn Robertson, and Curator, Annie MacDonald, with The Repair Shop truck.
After raising concerns over the preservation of a series of World War II-era graffiti created by Polish soldiers stationed at Viewfield House, the museum has gained national attention and was visited by the BBC Repair Shop crew.
Restoration work expert Dominic Chinea and other members of the series’ team visited the museum in September 2024 to help preserve the graffiti, whichhave been hailed as “remarkable” and “extraordinary” historical artworks.
Nairn Museum curator and manager, Annie MacDonald, explained: “As Nairn Museum prepared for significant refurbishment to address dry rot caused by water damage from a leaking roof, the Repair Shop team brought in a specialist building conservator to carefully remove the graffiti.
“Two out of three pieces, including a striking portrait of a woman, were successfully extracted from the attic walls. These artworks will become key highlights of the museum’s collection and will be displayed to the public when the museum reopens.”
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She said that addressing the dry rot is “critical” to protecting the building’s structure.
However, the underlying issue is the damaged roof which requires significant essential repairs that are not currently scheduled to be undertaken.
She continued: “The dire state of the attic that can be viewed in the Repair Shop episode, shows the urgent requirement for long-term investment from the Highland Council to repair the roof properly.
“Viewfield House belongs to Nairn’s Common Good, so it should be maintained for the benefit of the community.”
Ms MacDonald said the team at the museum was delighted to have the Polish artwork preserved, however the process “was exceptionally risky”.
She said. “It was a difficult choice to allow the Repair Shop team to try to remove the graffiti from the attic, as in an ideal world, we would conserve it in situ. However, Nairn Museum’s team feared that if we didn’t try to remove it from the attic, it would be lost forever after building works.
The Repair Shop’s preservation efforts and the story of the Polish soldiers’ graffiti will be showcased on BBC’s Repair Shop on the Road on BBC One today (Monday, January 13) at 8pm, and will also be available to stream on BBC iPlayer.