My Time in Abbotsford

In August and September 2014 I spent six weeks as an intern at Abbotsford, Home of Sir Walter Scott. In 2013, Abbotsford was completely refurbished and has since then attracted lots of tourists from all over the world. The main house serves as a "living museum", trying to convey the impression that Sir Walter just left a minute ago. It contains a large part of his private collection which includes historic artefacts, weapons, gifts from other writers, paintings and about 9.000 books. The other wing was made into a high-class hotel without removing any of its historic furniture.
During my internship I started cataloguing parts of the book collection and translated/corrected the brochures for German tourists. Beside the fact that I learned a lot about Sir Walter Scott, his works and Abbotsford itself, I was also able to gain some insight into museum, exhibition and restoration work. Also, film teams visit almost on a regular basis for interviews, documentaries and educational films. Shadowing their work was an exciting opportunity and they were usually happy to give you information on what they are doing and let you be part of it.
If you are an intern at Abbotsford, they will let you decide what you want to do, based on what you think will be useful for your studies or your future job. For the most part, I stayed in the Heritage and Engagement Department, but if you are interested in event management, gardening or working with tourists at the visitors centre, you are always free to spend some time there. Therefore, an internship at Abbotsford will deepen your knowledge on Scottish literature, museums and exhibitions and can at the same time be an all-round experience.