Submitted by George Farquhar on Tue, 2011-04-19 
The National Museums of Scotland aim to provide Scotland with a national museum service of international standing which preserves and enhances the collections in its care and promotes research on them so that they can be used to communicate and increase knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of human history and the natural environment.
The National Museums of Scotland are
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National Museum of Scotland:
Explore Scotland’s story. Then discover the world! Chambers Street, Edinburgh.
Opening times: Daily 10:00 – 17:00
National War Museum:
Follow the story of Scotland’s military past at Edinburgh Castle.
Opening times: Daily 09:45 – 16:45
National Museum of Costume:
Explore a century of elegance and style at Shambellie House, near Dumfries.
Opening times: 10:00 – 17:00 from April 2011
National Museum of Rural Life:
What was it like to live and work on a farm in the 1950s? Come and find out at Wester Kittochside, East Kilbride!
Opening times: Daily 10:00 – 17:00
National Museum of Flight:
What was it like to live and work on a farm in the 1950s? Come and find out at Wester Kittochside, East Kilbride!
Opening times: Daily 10:00 – 17:00
National Museums Collection Centre:
Where else would you find a collection of 1.2 million insects, all under one roof?
Opening times: By arrangement.
The history of national Museums of Scotland:
Discover the story from the 18th century beginnings to the present day.
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 redeveopment of the National Museum of Scotland, due for completion in 2011, will rejuvenate the displays in the adjacent Victorian building for the 21st century.
From 2011 the Museum will unite 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, the National Museum of Rural Life, and the National Museum of Costume.
Its collections are housed at three sites in the Edinburgh area: the National Museums Collection Centre at Granton, Leith Customs House, and Port Edgar, South Queensferry.
Museum address & contact:
National Museum of Scotland Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF Open daily from 10:00-17:00 Free entry.
More information: visit National Museum of Scotland homepage: http://www.nms.ac.uk/our_museums/national_museum.aspx
Contact: Main switchboard on 0300 123 6789.
National Museum of Costume Shambellie House, New Abbey, Dumfriesshire, DG2 8HQ Open daily from 10:00-17:00 from April-October
More information: visit Museum of Costume homepage: http://www.nms.ac.uk/our_museums/museum_of_costume.aspx
Contact: Main switchboard on 0300 123 6789
National Museum of Flight East Fortune Airfield, East Lothian, EH39 5LF Open daily 10:00-17:00 from April-October Open weekends only 10:00-16:00 from November-March Admission price now includes Concorde Boarding pass
More information: visit National Museum of Flight homepage: http://www.nms.ac.uk/our_museums/museum_of_flight.aspx
Contact: 0300 123 6789
National Museum of Rural Life Wester Kittochside, Philipshill Road, East Kilbride, G76 9HR Open daily 10:00-17:00
More information: visit National Museum of Rural Life homepage: http://www.nms.ac.uk/our_museums/museum_of_rural_life.aspx
Contact: Main switchboard on 0300 123 6789
National War Museum Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, EH1 2NG Open daily 09:45-17:45 from April-October Open daily 09:45-16:45 from November-March Entry to the Museum is free with admission to Edinburgh Castle.
More information: visit National War Museum homepage: http://www.nms.ac.uk/our_museums/war_museum.aspx
Contact: Main switchboard on 0300 123 6789
National Museums Collection Centre Granton, Edinburgh Open by appointment only.
More information: visit National Museums Collection Centre homepage: http://www.nms.ac.uk/our_museums/museums_collection_centre.aspx
Contact: Main switchboard on 0300 123 6789
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