Two strands of history come together in the story of the
development of the National Museums Scotland: the desire to have a
museum reflecting Scottish history and the wish to have a museum
demonstrating international cultures, natural and physical
sciences, and decorative art for Scotland.
Beginnings: The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland was founded in 1780, very
much in the spirit of the Enlightenment, to collect the archaeology
of Scotland. Its collections passed into public ownership in 1858
as the original collections of the National Museum of Antiquities
of Scotland.
These collections, which had had various homes previously, were
housed from 1891 until 1995 in specially built galleries in Finlay
Buildings, Queen Street, Edinburgh (also occupied by the Scottish
National Portrait Gallery). The annual proceedings of the Society
of Antiquaries provide an invaluable record of research carried out
on the archaeology collection, from their first publication in 1851
to the present day.
A new home
In 1985 the National Museum of Antiquities was amalgamated with
the Royal Scottish Museum. The latter was founded in 1854 as the
Industrial Museum of Scotland and reflected the impetus of
Victorian ideals of education. It started international collecting
and research as well as forming close links to the collections and
teaching of Edinburgh University, which continue today. Renamed the
Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, it opened in its first bespoke
buildings, designed by Francis Fowke, in Chambers Street in
1866.
The 1985 amalgamation created the National Museums of Scotland
(rebranded as National Museums Scotland in 2006), the largest
multi-disciplinary museum in Scotland, with four million items in
its collections and the largest body of curatorial and conservation
expertise in the country.
The National Museum of Scotland
The building of the new Museum of Scotland, which opened in
1998, to tell the country’s history from earliest times to the
present day, created a landmark museum in Edinburgh for the
nation.
The redevelopment of the National Museum
of Scotland (2006-2011) transformed the adjacent Victorian
building into a vibrant museum for the 21st century, opening up
public spaces, providing new facilities and displaying our natural
world, world cultures, art and design and science and technology
collections in innovative new ways.
When the new galleries opened on 29 July 2011, the Museum
united the two strands of its history for the first time in a
single entity, the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers
Street.
National Museums Scotland today
Today, National Museums Scotland also includes the National Museum of Flight, the National War Museum and the National Museum of Rural Life.
Its collections are housed principally in the National Museums Collection Centre at
Granton.