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A large room showcasing numerous items displayed on extensive shelves.

Museum Collections Centre

Our research and conservation hub, open for tours

 

Culture Edinburgh looks after around 200,000 precious artworks and artefacts, and it’s impossible to display all of them in our main museums and galleries. Many of our pieces are housed in the Collections Centre, where they’re cared for by our expert team. Visitors are welcome on pre-booked tours, throughout the year.


Objects at the Collections Centre range from dolls' houses to wartime cooking utensils, and from 18th century water pipes to pantomime costumes. Tours of the Collections Centre will take you around some of the fascinating objects on open storage, and show you how the store and collections work.  Keep an eye on the What's On section for upcoming tours.


Researchers wanting to access specific parts of the collection can email MuseumCollectionsCentre@edinburgh.gov.uk to arrange a visit.


“Very interesting collections with excellent guides.” Visitor feedback

Our varied collections tell us about the lives of local people from the past, including communities like Leith and Newhaven where once thriving, specialised trades have now disappeared.

 

Many items, such as the pottery or glass produced in Edinburgh, combine function with great beauty. For many visitors there’s a nostalgic thrill to be had in our childhood section, among dolls houses, prams, bicycles and train sets. All our objects have stories to tell, and taking a tour will open new windows into the past.