National Museum of Scotland

Edinburgh’s National Museum of Scotland was the one museum that I definitely wanted to make sure we visited on our trip.

The National Museum was formed in 2006 when the Museum of Scotland and Royal Museum merged. The grand central hall in the former Royal Museum section is a really breathtaking space and worth a visit in of itself.

There is so much to see and do at the museum that it would be impossible to see everything in a single visit. We decided to be sparing with what we wanted to see so we first headed up to the roof terrace to get a view of the surrounding area, including the castle, and then to make our way down, stopping off at the exhibitions that most interested us.

One of the items I was most intrigued by were the Arthur’s Seat coffins. Found in 1836 on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, they are seventeen miniature coffins each with a clothed figure inside. The reasons for their burial and what they are supposed to represent are still a mystery.

Of course we had to pay a visit to the Lewis Chessmen which were made around 1150-1200 and discovered near Uig on the Isle of Lewis around 1831.

And I had especially wanted to see the jewellery of Mary Queen of Scots, known as the Penicuik Jewels, so called because they had been preserved for many years by the clerks of Penicuik who were Scottish barons.

I was also quite impressed with the giant deer skeleton, which was discovered in a bog on the Isle of Man and brought to Edinburgh in 1821. It is a species of now extinct giant deer.

It’s a really well designed museum and as entry is free it’s definitely a place you could make endless visits to. You can find more of my photos here.