Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
More significantly, the kirkyard was the setting, in 1638, for the signing of the
National
Covenant
, a dramatic act of defiance by the Presbyterian Scots against the attempts of
Charles I to impose an episcopal form of worship on the country. In an undemocratic
age, thousands of townsfolk as well as important nobles signed the original at
Greyfriars; copies were then made and sent around the country with some three
hundred thousand names being added.
National Museum of Scotland
Chambers St • Daily 10am-5pm • Free • Guided tours at 11am, 1 & 3pm (1hr; free) •
T
0300 123 6789,
W
nms.ac.uk
he
National Museum of Scotland
is essentially two distinct museums, internally
connected to each other: the unorthodox
modern sandstone building
on the corner of
George IV Bridge houses collections of Scottish heritage, while the much older
Venetian-style palace
offers a more global perspective. Inside, the wealth of exhibits is
enough to occupy days of your time but as entry is free you'll be able to dip in and out
at leisure or during rain showers. Parents will also find the place a useful sanctuary
since there are numerous child-friendly rooms, interactive exhibits and cafés.
The old building
Modelled on the former Crystal Palace in London, and with a spectacular cast-iron
interior, the old building packs in a bedazzling array of artefacts, covering natural
history, world culture, geology and technology. he exhibits are housed over three levels
surrounding the
Grand Gallery
, a huge central atrium whose beautiful limestone floor
turns out to be teaming with fossils, predominantly ammonites. One stand-out exhibit,
by the main concourse, is the gruesome
Millennium Clock Tower
, a jumble of cogs,
chains and wheels modelled in the form of a Gothic cathedral, with gargoyles and
sinister-looking figurines representing characters from twentieth-century politics.
he
Natural World gallery
is particularly fine, too, inhabiting all tiers of the museum's
eastern end with numerous recreated animals hanging top to bottom from the rafters
and a fearsome T-rex skeleton at the entrance.
The new building
Given its confusing and unconventional layout you might want to pick up a free map
before tackling the new building's
Scottish galleries
, which detail the history of
Scotland from its geological formation through to the present day. In between, there's a
wealth of remarkably well-preserved medieval exhibits - religious, regal and day-to-day
objects - on display in the
Kingdom of the Scots
, including the exquisitely idiosyncratic
Lewis chessmen
. Moving forward in time,
Scotland Transformed
offers an insight into
the Union of Crowns and the crushed Jacobite rebellion, leading up the Industrial
Revolution - evoked by an unmissable life-size working model of a steam-driven
Newcomen Atmospheric Engine. Designed in 1712, it foreshadows Scotland's role as
covered in the next section,
Industry and Empire
, where you can see a full-size steam
locomotive, the
Ellesmere
, highlighting the fact that in the nineteenth century Scotland
was building more railway engines than anywhere else in the world.
Surgeons' Hall Museum
Nicolson St, between nos. 14 & 16 • April-Oct daily 10am-5pm; Nov-March Mon-Fri 10am-4pm • £5 •
T
0131 527 1649,
W
www.museum.rcsed.ac.uk
Surgeons' Hall
, the former headquarters of the Royal College of Surgeons, is a
handsome iconic temple with a stately columned facade, built by William Playfair
(1789-1857), one of Edinburgh's greatest architects. Housed round the back is one of
Edinburgh's most unusual and morbidly compelling museums. In the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, Edinburgh was a leading centre of medical and anatomical
