Historic Preservation & Cultural Heritage

The Society supports the upkeep of the Robert Burns statue located on Literary Walk in Central Park. Originally installed in 1880 and sculpted by Sir John Steell, the statue underwent significant restoration in 1993 under the Adopt-A-Monument program. Restoration efforts included cleaning, repatinating the bronze to its historic statuary brown color, reattaching a missing quill, and stabilizing the granite base.

The Society contributed over £5,000 to the National Trust for Scotland to aid in the restoration of the Burns Monument in Alloway, Ayrshire. This 70-foot Grecian-style temple, designed by Thomas Hamilton Jr. and completed in 1823, underwent extensive conservation work, including stone restoration, leadwork, drainage repairs, and the installation of a new cupola. The project was celebrated with a rededication ceremony on the 223rd anniversary of Burns' death.

The Society donated over £5,000 towards the restoration of a tall case clock that once belonged to Burns' sister, Isabella Burns Begg. This historic timepiece, now housed in the library adjacent to the Burns Birthplace in Alloway, symbolizes the enduring legacy of the Burns family

In 1955, Ernest Tennant gifted the Society a Lowestoft saucer that had belonged to his ancestor, Rev. Dr. William Dalrymple, who christened Robert Burns. In 2012, the Society donated this artifact to the National Trust, and it now resides at Burns’s Birthplace Cottage in Alloway