From Moby the whale to dinosaur bones, from motorbikes to traction engines – the material gathered here is as diverse as it is vast. Where else could we keep our collection of 1.2 million insects?
The National Museums Collection Centre at Granton, Edinburgh, provides a home for many of the objects and specimens that are not currently on display in our museums. In fact, our collections are so extensive, only a small proportion can ever be shown at once. The stored material enables us to refresh exhibitions and study subjects in depth.
In conjunction with the Royal Museum Project we have built two new buildings at Granton, providing state-of-the-art conservation laboratories and enhanced storage for the national collections.
In 2009, visitors will be able to go behind the scenes at National Museums Collection Centre on a guided tour to experience our rich treasure house and watch our conservators at work.
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The National Galleries of Scotland also has a purpose-built storage building on site holding some of their reserve painting and sculpture collections For information on access to that part of the site, please contact the National Galleries of Scotland directly.
Opening times
Currently, the Collection centre is not open to the public, but guided public tours to the centre will resume in 2009.
Arrangements for individual academic research can be made with the relevant Collections department.