News Archive - November - December 2003

November-December 2004
March-April 2004
January-February 2004
November-December 2003
June-October 2003

Society of Antiquaries Archive goes on-line
Medieval or Later Rural Settlement Website
SMC Launch New Heritage Learning Guide
Medieval remains found in Edinburgh
Ghost Hunt at Edinburgh Castle in December
Two Strategic Change Fund Awards
Scottish Archive Network Launched


News Archive - June to October 2003

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Society of Antiquaries of Scotland archaeology archive goes online

The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and the Archaeology Data Service have launched their digital publications archive of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. The archive comprises over 3000 articles and book chapters on Scottish archaeology over two centuries - from 1792 to 1998.

http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/library/psas/

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Medieval or Later Rural Settlement (MoLRS) Website http://www.molrs.org.uk

This new website has been launched to help people learn more about how our Scottish ancestors lived in the centuries leading up to modern times.

The site, created by the Medieval or Later Rural Settlement (MoLRS) Working Group, has details of up-to-date research by archaeologists, historians, ethnologists and scientists into the traces of our agricultural landscapes of the past 1500 years. Visitors will be able to see the latest news about current work, and can also find out how to learn more through local archaeological and historical groups.

Dr John Atkinson, an archaeological researcher from Glasgow University and Chair of the MoLRS Working Group, is delighted to welcome the site: "MoLRS sites are all around us, but most people have no idea about the wealth of information they can give us about how people lived during the formative years of the Scottish nation. The new website will help us cultivate an interest in these fascinating places, and will help make the link between professionals and amateur groups so that we can work together to learn more. MoLRS sites are relevant to everyone interested in Scotland's heritage; the website will be invaluable for telling their stories to a wide audience - stories of everyday people, of sustainability, and of the devastating effects of outside influence - to a wide audience."

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SMC Launch New Heritage Learning Guide for Cultural Coordinators and Teachers.

The Scottish Museums Council (SMC) launched a new publication recently to inspire and inform teachers and Cultural Coordinators on how to get the most out of Scotland's rich heritage resources. Its title Lasting Impressions conjures up childhood memories of visits to museums and galleries, nature reserves, historic buildings and monuments, archives and archaeological sites with a realisation of the impact that heritage in all its forms can have on the education of young people. The key aims of the guide are to promote better use of Scotland's heritage as a powerful tool for effective learning and to equip Cultural Coordinators and teachers with creative ideas, advice and knowledge on how to link Scottish heritage with the Scottish school curriculum.

Lasting Impressionsis full of ideas and contacts which will make accessing museums and heritage easy and enjoyable. It will be of particular value when working with the many organisations that do not have a dedicated education officer. Over 8,000 copies of Lasting Impressions have been produced. Learning and Teaching Scotland will deliver 4,200 to every primary and secondary school in Scotland.

Lasting Impressions: A Guide to Getting the Most Out of the Heritage Sector, published September 2003, is available free from the Scottish Museums Council. Please contact Sue Wheeler on 0131 229 7465. suew@scottishmuseums.org.uk

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Medieval remains found in Edinburgh

Medieval remains were discovered near the site of the new headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland during September.

Pottery shards, rubbish pits and animal bones were unearthed north of the A8 opposite the banks headquarters, which are currently under construction at Gogarburn in the west of the city. The discovery has given archaeologists a key insight into the way of life on the site, which was home to a medieval village hundreds of years ago. Experts believe the items suggest the site was used for agriculture in medieval times.

These preliminary findings were reported to Edinburgh City Council and subsequently further work was undertaken by Headland Archaeology which uncovered evidence of the already well documented medieval village at Nether Gogar which lies outwith of this site.

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Ghost Hunt at Edinburgh Castle in December

After the runaway success of the Ghost Hunt last year Edinburgh Castle yet again welcomes Mercat Tours who will terrify and entertain visitors on Ghost Hunt 2 The Return in December. On the evenings of both Saturday 6 and 13 December cloaked guides and costumed characters will recount some of the Castles most gruesome tales. Hundreds of visitors will experience the chilly and spine-tingling atmosphere of the Castle at night and recoil as its grisly and ghostly past is brought vividly to life.

From witch-burning on the esplanade to the terrible fate of besieged soldiers in Davids tower, the Castle does not lack ghastly incidents.

Tickets are only available in advance through Mercat Tours on 0131 557 6464. They cost: adult 13, concession 12, child 11.

To revive the faint of heart there are premium tickets available which include food and refreshment and further ghostly tales in the Castles Jacobite room at the end of the tour. Premium tickets are adult 28.50, concession 27.50 and child 26.50.

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Two Strategic Change Fund Awards

The final two projects to be awarded from the Strategic Change Fund, funded by the Scottish Executive and managed by the Scottish Museums Council (SMC) were announced recently.

Burns National Heritage Park in partnership with 10 other organisations will receive an Award of 107,306. They will work together to preserve and promote public access to one of the country's most significant distributed national collections - that relating to Robert Burns. The Robert Burns material held in Scottish museums is one of the most fragmented and least resourced of any collections, despite being one of Scotland's most important cultural treasures. The award will make it possible, for the first time, for Burns Clubs and independent museums to work with local authorities and national institutions to raise the profile of this vitally important material and to find ways to effectively work together to guarantee its place at the heart of Scotland's cultural life.

A second important project, which has been awarded 129,552, will create a leadership development programme for Scottish Museums. This programme brings together museum staff from across 12 local councils and the University of Glasgow who will develop a programme in association with the Scottish Leadership Foundation.

The pilot project for creating a leadership development network for Scottish museums came in part from one of the 122 recommendations made by SMC to the Scottish Executive's consultation to develop an Action Plan for Scotland's Museums and Galleries. It will involve 13 partner organisations from throughout Scotland, with 2 members of staff from each organisation taking part.

All members of the partnership will be matched with mentors from different sectors, who will challenge the mentees' management thinking, develop leadership vision and generate new responses to issues and challenges. They will be able to participate in a people exchange, visiting other organisations to learn from different work practice. Support Networks and regional meetings will be established and the project will be promoted at key events including the 2004 UK Museum Association conference to be held in Edinburgh. The Scottish Leadership Foundation will facilitate the project and a consultant, Allan Jones, will manage the project on behalf of the partners.

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Scottish Archive Network Launched http://www.scan.org.uk

Magnus Magnusson launched www.scan.org.uk - the world's largest archival digitisation project - on 23rd October 2003. SCAN (Scottish Archive Network) is a 4 million project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund over 4 years. www.scan.org.uk covers the contents of 52 of Scotland's major archives. It involved digitising millions of pages of historical records and indexing more than 20,000 collections.

Of huge interest to family historians is the inclusion of every will & testament written in Scotland from 1500-1901 - 500,000 wills and testaments, digitised, preserved and indexed - you'll find the wills of Rob Roy and Rabbie Burns in there along with a host of other well known and fascinating characters. There's also a wealth of helpful information to help non-professional researchers find their way through old Scots words and read historic handwriting.

Scotland's archives are not just the province of academic historians and family-tree hunters. They are used by a wide variety of people, including house-purchasers, school pupils, students, local historians, lawyers, journalists, architects, surveyors, artists, authors, medical researchers, engineers, planners, the business community, and anyone interested in the decision-making of Scotland's government, local government, businesses and other institutions from the 12th century until the present."