Last month, I had the opportunity to join my good friend Christine Woodcock and her Genealogy Tours group during a visit to the Archives of Historic Environment Scotland at John Sinclair House in Edinburgh. It was lovely to see Neil Fraser again, and along with a couple of his colleagues, they took the time to show us around their facility.
Our first stop was their Archive which housed shelf upon shelf of Archival holdings as well as drawers of plans & models of buildings that had been created by Architects.
From there, we visited their conservation studio, where any repair or preservation of the holdings takes place. We then spent some time in the library. I was in awe of the number of books they had on all sorts of topics, from architectural works on different building types to more niche subjects such as cornicing. They also had books relating to particular places and towns. I have since discovered that you can search their catalogue online, which will be useful for my New Monkland one-place study.
The library also holds box files of images, sorted by county and then by place, which include pictures of historic buildings, street views, and more. These are the kinds of images you’ll find on their Canmore website along with aerial images, maps, and plans. I must add that these are available to purchase so if you would like a photograph of the 'Big House' your great-grandmother worked in as a domestic servant you can easily obtain a copy to add to your research.
Our next visit took us upstairs to the hub, where items are photographed, indexed, and added to their collection. Their official photographer gave us a fascinating insight into what takes place in their photographic lab and demonstrated the use of some of their equipment.
After our visit, I had lunch with Christine at a lovely wee place just around the corner—it’s always wonderful to catch up when she is in Scotland!!
Since my visit, I’ve been delving more deeply into the HES website and exploring some of the other websites and online resources they have. I noted that they provide both online and in-person presentations, and I promptly signed up for one that caught my interest. They also have a wide range of publications, some of which can be purchased, and others—such as guides and surveys—are available to download for free in PDF format. I highly recommend taking a look!
Remember, you can also become a member of HES and visit the many castles and historic properties spread across Scotland. I’ve been a member for many years, and in addition to visiting these places throughout the year, I also enjoy attending some of the events they host.
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