National Museums Scotland

What time is it? It’s announcement time! This is a mechanical standing equinoctial ring dial. Or, as we prefer to say, a fancy sun dial. It’s now on display at the National Museum of Scotland ☀️ The Ilay Glynne dial was made around 1715 by Richard Glynne a successful and well-regarded maker of mathematical instruments and a member of the Clockmakers’ Company. This is the most important surviving example of his work. It was used to measure local time from the Sun, providing the most accurate means of setting clocks available at the time. It’s also pretty impressive to look at, and was a bit of a status symbol in its time. It was commissioned by and belonged to Archibald Campbell, Earl of Ilay and later 3rd Duke of Argyll (1682-1761) who was a hugely influential figure in post-Union Scotland. He had control over royal patronage in Scotland, and managed Scottish affairs, making him a very powerful figure in the first half of the 18th century. He was a founder and the first governor of the Royal Bank of Scotland - you can still see his likeness on the £100 note today 💷 It’s now on display in the Spirit of the Age gallery in the National Museum of Scotland. The acquisition was made possible with support from Art Fund, with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation, National Heritage Memorial Fund, National Museums Scotland Charitable Trust and other generous donors in the United Kingdom and United States of America.

A 1800 year old puzzle, which took 2 months to complete 🧩 National Museums Scotland artefact conservator, Bethan Bryan, shares the process of reconstructing a Roman Arm guard. Discovered in 1906 near Melrose in the Scottish Borders, this is the first time it’s been seen in full since around AD180. For fans of: Roman-era artefacts, challenging jigsaws and conservation ASMR - watch the painstaking process in full: https://lnkd.in/g_377ETG The arm guard is currently on display in 'Legion: life in the Roman army' at the British Museum until 23 June. Later this year, it travels back to the National Museum of Scotland where you’ll see it on display in the Early People gallery.

Help us with our research! 📢 We're excited to be partners - alongside Historic Environment Scotland, the Hunterian Museum and Edify - on Museums in the Metaverse: a project to develop an Extended Reality (XR) platform. Led by the University of Glasgow, Museums in the Metaverse will explore ways for visitors to experience and engage with museums and their collections in virtual spaces, drawing on new forms of interpretation and storytelling developed by curators. Our partners at University of Glasgow are looking for people to take a short, anonymous survey about how you experience cultural heritage attractions. Fill out the questionnaire here https://lnkd.in/eTaviUj8 For more information about the Museums in the Metaverse project, visit: https://lnkd.in/eJu2dqxM

We have some exiting new jobs in our Digital Media and Marketing & Communications teams. Are you our next Assistant Producer 🎥 or CRM & Ticketing Officer? 👩💻 Check out our new vacancies on the Job section of our page or visit our careers portal on the link below for more in depth information, recruitment packs and helpful tips on applying.

Math is everywhere, if you look for it… 🧮 Our free online training will help you find the maths stories in your museum collections and create maths-focused programming and events for your school and family audiences. You don’t need to have a maths, science, technology or engineering collection to take part. Every collection has a maths story somewhere - and we can help you find it! 📅 Wed 29 May, 10:00-15:00 Book your place and join us online: https://lnkd.in/eW2xBfza

The global environmental emergency is the biggest challenge facing the world. At National Museums Scotland we’re committed to creating positive change. We’re working to reduce our own impact on the planet, and to use our collection to influence and engage others 🌍 - We waved goodbye to Rising Tide earlier this month, an exhibition which explored the relationship between humans and nature. Rising Tide featured responses to climate change and plastic waste by Indigenous Australian and Pacific Islander artists. Read more about how the exhibition was designed to reflect these core themes on our blog: https://lnkd.in/eTmCpHGw - The Nova 30 tidal turbine highlights Scotland’s position as world-leaders in tidal energy. Previously used in the Bluemull Sound in Shetland and largely funded by the community, it’s now proudly on display at the National Museum of Scotland. - Our current exhibition, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, presents images that shine a light on stories and species around the world and encourages a future of advocating for the planet. - We’ve introduced ‘Low mow’ areas at the National Museums Collection Centre, as well as the National Museums of Rural Life and Flight, to enhance and nurture biodiversity at our sites. - We’re continuing to collect objects and cultural responses to environmental change. Recent additions to our Fashion & Style collection include an outfit made from a repurposed Harris Tweed suit and Ugandan barkcloth, and a statement piece from sustainable circular fashion studio, Phoebe English. Carbon reduction is a fundamental part of our business and we’re making progress. We have already reduced our carbon emissions by 77% against the 1990 baseline, and now we’re working hard on achieving further reductions and a target of net zero by 2045. - 100% of our electricity is on a green tariff. - We have removed plastic bottles from our museums, and are working to eliminate plastics from our packaging and shops. - The principles of reduce, recycle and reuse are applied to our exhibition production. - We are replacing the lighting in our museum displays with energy-efficient LED lighting. - We have introduced ground and air source heating at the National Museum of Flight. We cannot do this on our own. We will need support from Government, city partners, our visitors and suppliers, as well as broader societal change. For more information about the above, and to discover more about our vision for sustainable development, visit: https://lnkd.in/eAxDcPUh ♻ #EarthDay

Do you work in the museum sector? We want to hear your thoughts for Scotland's Archaology Strategy. The Scottish Archaeology in Museums Working Group have produced a survey to better understand the priorities and challenges faced in the sector. It takes around 25 minutes, and the deadline for completion is 30 April 2024. 🔗 Take the survey: https://lnkd.in/eqAZfVUD 📩 If you have any questions, please contact partnerships@nms.ac.uk

Are you looking for the next step in your HR career? We have three exciting new roles open for application. Volunteer Co-ordinator 👩👩👦👦 Senior People Partner (Senior HR Business Partner)👨💼 👩💼 Senior Learning and Organisational Development Partner 🖥 ✏ Please check out our vacancies on our careers page for more information. 🏛

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Rebecca Jones as Keeper of Scottish History and Archaeology. Dr Jones will take up the role from June. Dr Jones is currently Director of Alumni Relations at the University of Edinburgh. She previously headed up various teams in Historic Environment Scotland including Archaeology, World Heritage and Heritage Recording, leading the development of Scotland’s first Archaeology Strategy, which launched in 2015. She has a degree in Ancient History and Archaeology from Newcastle University and a PhD from the University of Glasgow, on Roman Camps in Scotland. She has published extensively on subjects including Roman camps, Roman frontiers and World Heritage, and her book, Roman Camps in Britain was named ‘Book of the Year’ at the Current Archaeology awards in 2013. She is Co-Chair of the International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies and Co-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage property. A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and the Society of Antiquaries of London, she is also a Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists, a Board member of ICOMOS-UK and Trustee of the biodiversity charity Bright Green Nature. Her research interests include Roman Scotland and frontiers, the 20th century history of archaeology (particularly female scholarship) and World Heritage, with a current research focus on the impacts of climate change. We are looking forward to welcoming her to National Museums Scotland.