Dumfriesshire museum at site of world's first savings bank will not close

A museum at the site of the world's first savings bank in Dumfries & Galloway has been saved, MP David Mundell has announced.

The museum is located in the “penny bank”, established in 1810 in the village of Ruthwell by local Minister Henry Duncan for local parishioners, which ultimately became the Trustee Savings Bank (TSB).

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Due to the coronavirus lockdown, TSB planned to close the museum and move the historic contents to a new exhibition at their Edinburgh Head Office - Henry Duncan House.

The proposal was met with backlash, with local politicians fighting to keep the artefacts and museum within the heart of Ruthwell.

Mr Mundell says the bank now 'wants to find a way for it to continue on a community basis.'

Announcing the news on Twitter, he said: "Oliver Mundell and I are very pleased to have heard from TSB that they have listened to local people and not going ahead with the closure of Ruthwell Savings Bank Museum and removal of Henry Duncan artefacts. They now want to find a way for it to continue on a community basis"

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