National Mining Museum Scotland

The National Mining Museum Scotland is the national coal mining museum for Scotland and cares for the Lady Victoria Colliery and the national coal mining collections. The collections at the museum comprise over 60,000 items, including objects, archive material, photographs and books.

The Museum’s object collection includes tools, safety equipment, lamps, models, clothing, trophies, geological specimens, banners and art. The BIG Stuff Tour allows visitors to see the Museum’s extensive collection of large mining objects, such as coal cutters, cages, and locomotives. The Museum has over 18,000 photographs in its archive, including underground scenes, surface images, aerial views of collieries, miners at work and leisure, gala days and village scenes. Nearly all of these photographs can be viewed on a touchscreen computer at the Museum.

The reference library at the National Mining Museum houses books, journals, trade catalogues and periodicals covering the history of the coal mining industry. The Museum’s archives also hold many original documents relating to Scottish Collieries, including those of the Lothian Coal Company.