McLean Museum and Art Gallery

The McLean Museum and Art Gallery stands in Greenock, Inverclyde, on Kelly Street in the West End. It opened in 1876 and now houses the Watt Institution, combining museum, art gallery, Watt Hall, Watt Library and Inverclyde Archives. The building was funded by local timber merchant James McLean, whose portrait hangs inside. The first curator was Thomas Struthers, a Glasgow geologist and naturalist. Early loans from national museums helped build its reputation. Its collections include James Watt’s plans and tools, tools he used and portraits of him. An Egyptology section holds a mummy cartonnage from Herakleopolis Magna and temple stone from Bubastis. Roman pottery, flint implements from Kent and stone axes from Ireland appear in the archaeology displays. Scottish and British artworks line the gallery walls alongside social history and maritime transport exhibits. The Egypt Exploration Society donated many items before the First World War. Visitors enter through the museum on Kelly Street after a 2016–2019 refurbishment that reunited the complex. Watt Hall and the Watt Library sit within the same building, now linked by the main entrance. The art gallery shows changing exhibitions of local and national significance. Nearby Greenock West station makes the site easy to reach on foot from the town centre.