A FULLY restored 19th century handloom will weave together Dunfermline's history as a key exhibit in the new £12.4 million museum.

The town was one of the largest producers of linen in Europe and the Meldrum Loom is the first artefact that visitors will see in Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries.

Built in 1835, at a time when there were 3,500 handlooms operating here, the device was used by two generations of the Meldrum family to produce high quality damask linens.

Lesley Botten, the Display, Design & Activities curator at the new venue, said: “We are delighted to display this beautiful loom in our new building.

"A team of highly skilled volunteers worked with the master weaver Ian Dale to restore it to full working order.

"We are certain visitors will love it when they actually see it.

"I suspect many visitors will be unaware of Dunfermline’s remarkable past as Scotland’s premier linen town and the Meldrum Loom will certainly help to change that and bring our history to life.”

The handcrafted loom, one of just two left in Dunfermline, required extensive restoration.

It was dismantled, the wooden components were sanded and oiled, the warp beam was renewed and the loom’s 2000 ends rethreaded.

A team of eight volunteers, many of whom had worked in Dunfermline's linen industry as tenters, warpers and weavers, helped Mr Dale with the restoration.

A piece of cloth has since been woven on the loom, using a Jacquard design card from the existing collection, producing a pattern known as the 'horn of plenty'.

Stories relating to Dunfermline's industrial heritage will be told through films, interviews, computer games and objects from Fife Council's museum collection.

Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries, which hopes to attract up to 280,000 visitors a year, will open on Thursday May 18.