News

The National Museum of Rural Life has released a group of rare festive photographs from the Scottish Life Archive. The five historic photographs will be available to download for free for the first time, as a set of Christmas cards.

Celebrate the season with festive family fun at the National Museum of Rural Life this December. Visitors will enjoy a programme of activities from winter storytelling to nature-inspired craft activities. The Festive Weekend, which is supported with funds raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, takes place on Saturday 7 December and Sunday 8 December.

An exhibition of The Galloway Hoard, the richest find of rare and unique Viking-age objects ever made in Britain or Ireland, will open early next year in Adelaide, as the first leg of an international tour. Treasures of the Viking Age: The Galloway Hoard will be on show at the South Australian Museum from 8 February to 27 July 2025.

The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic, Ms Forbes, today announced the reappointment of Motaram Mimi Brophy, Graeme Gibson and Professor Ian Wall to the Board of Trustees of National Museums Scotland

Press images can be downloaded here

The iconic Lewis chess pieces can now be viewed from a very different angle thanks to a new display at the National Museum of Scotland. Among the best-known objects in Scotland’s most popular visitor attraction, ten of the medieval gaming pieces have been redisplayed in a new case which allows visitors to view their backs for the first time. 

One of the most significant hoards ever found in Scotland has been saved for the nation, having been acquired by National Museums Scotland. The Bronze Age Peebles Hoard was discovered in the Scottish Borders by a metal detectorist in 2020. It has since been painstakingly excavated, analysed and catalogued, revealing dozens of rare objects for the first time. Efforts are now underway to secure funding for the continued research and conservation of the hoard and to uncover the secrets of this one-of-a-kind discovery. 

nms.ac.uk 
perthmuseum.co.uk/watersrising 

A placard created by an eight-year-old climate activist during the School Strike for Climate in 2019, will go on display for the first time in a major new exhibition at Perth Museum. Bridget, now 14, from Edinburgh has been reunited with her artwork at the National Museums Collection Centre before it goes on loan to Perth Museum for Waters Rising, opening 8 November 2024. 

An exceptionally rare piece of Roman armour which was recently reconstructed from dozens of fragments has gone on display in its entirety for the first time in Scotland.

Visitors to the National Museum of Flight this half term can travel back in time to experience life on the Second World War airfield. Supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, families will be transported to the 1940s with new activities, tours and opportunities to learn wartime espionage skills from 16 Oct - 18 Oct 2024.

Escape to the country this autumn for plenty of family fun, come rain or shine at the National Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride. Supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, Autumn Explorers will run from 15 – 18 October.

The care and curation of archaeological human remains in Scottish museum collections is to be enhanced thanks to a major new project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh 
25 January – 27 April 2025 
Free admission 

nms.ac.uk/InjectingHope