8 miles E 17 min drive DG2 8BQ
Recommend using What 3 Words to find the entrance: comet.lump.sprouting
If you’re thinking “John Paul Jones – who’s he?” Then you’re not alone. 3 of the 5 people in our group hadn’t heard of him before visiting this little museum in the village of Kirkbean.
It’s the Historic Birthplace Museum of John Paul Jones, the “Father of the American Navy.”
The Museum tells the story of this Naval hero who was born and lived his early life at the small cottage that forms part of the museum.
The museum is rather tucked away down some narrow lanes, (W3W: comet.lump.sprouting) but once you arrive there’s ample parking and a lovely view out to the Solway Firth.
The lady who greeted us was very friendly and explained that we could buy a combined ticket and also visit the Arbigland Gardens (a few minutes away) on the same day. We decided against this as it was already mid afternoon but we’d like to visit the gardens another time.
John Paul Jones Museum
The museum is very small. It’s essentially two rooms and then the cottage. One room contains a large screen that plays an informative video about John Paul Jones’ life. There are also some Playmobil ships in the corner to keep small children amused.
The other larger room contains an assortment of artefacts from the time, an impressive model ship, information boards and also some sailor and pirate dressing up outfits for little ones. There’s a very small souvenir shop section next to the ticket counter.
The visitor leaflet mentioned a Virtual Reality experience but unfortunately the VR headset wasn’t working when we visited.
John Paul Jones Cottage
From the small museum you walk outside to the cottage, which was John Paul’s birthplace, comprised of three rooms.
The museum was quiet when we visited. We watched the video, looked at all the artefacts and information and had a good look around the cottage at a relaxed pace and spent around an hour and a half here.
If you love history or have a particular interest in US or Naval history this is an interesting little museum, so it’s worth making the effort to visit. Our children enjoy history and so said they found it interesting. We all know who John Paul Jones was now!
For more places to visit in the area, click here: Places to visit near Sandyhills, Dumfries & Galloway
Planning Your Visit
8 miles E 17 min drive DG2 8BQ
We recommend using What 3 Words to find the entrance, as our SatNav directed us to the other end of the path through another property and we had to turn around! comet.lump.sprouting
Large Car Park
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/nf9oBofPXQWH2sHb9