Top 100 objects

Browse key artefacts from our properties across the country.

Displaying 1-20 of 98

Print - Crichton Castle (East Side of the Court Yard)

An engraving of Crichton Castle by R.

Object number E6379

Time Period: 19th century, Modern

Property Information: Crichton Castle

Object type: Print

Oil on Canvas - View of the Clyde and Dumbarton Rock

Painted in the 1850s, this oil landscape shows Dumbarton Rock from the south bank of the River Clyde.

Object number DUM373

Time Period: 19th century, Modern

Property Information: Dumbarton Castle

Object type: Painting

Telescope

A brass telescope thought to have belonged to the first lighthouse keeper at Kinnaird Head.

Object number KH213

Time Period: Modern

Property Information: Kinnaird Head

Object type: Telescope

Pig iron ingot

An iron ‘pig’ or ingot made at Invergarry Furnace.

Object number BON019

Time Period: 18th century, Modern

Property Information: Bonawe Iron Furnace

Object type: Ingot

Musket

This India pattern flintlock musket with a 39-inch barrel can be seen on display at Fort George.

Object number HBM3709

Time Period: 18th century, Modern

Property Information: Fort George

Object type: Musket

Cresset lamp

Inchmahome Priory would once have been bathed in a soft glow by lamps such as this one.

Object number INCM015

Time Period: Medieval

Property Information: Inchmahome Priory

Object type: Lamp

Ochre grinding mortar

Traces of ochre still dot this mortar (grinding vessel) found at Skara Brae, a Neolithic settlement on Orkney.

Object number X.HA.28

Time Period: Neolithic, Prehistoric

Property Information: Skara Brae

Object type: Mortar

Bone whistle

This bone whistle found at the Neolithic settlement of Skara Brae may have been used to make music to attract prey.

Object number X.2017.42.7528

Time Period: Neolithic, Prehistoric

Property Information: Skara Brae

Object type: Musical Instrument

Beads

These beads may have been used as a necklace more than 4,500 years ago.

Object number SKB055

Time Period: Neolithic, Prehistoric

Property Information: Skara Brae

Object type: Bead

Lock and key

Storing gunpowder was a dangerous business.

Object number DUM368

Time Period: 18th century, Modern

Property Information: Dumbarton Castle

Object type: Key

Trebuchet ball

This heavy ball was made to be hurled at a castle’s defences from a siege machine known as a trebuchet.

Object number BTH/o/39

Time Period: Medieval

Property Information: Bothwell Castle

Object type: Trebuchet ball

Canopied stall

This ornate bishop’s stall from the choir at Dunblane Cathedral bears the arms of Bishop James Chisholm (1487–1526).

Object number DBL036

Time Period: Late medieval, Medieval

Property Information: Dunblane Cathedral

Object type: Choir stall

Bottle time capsule

This time capsule was discovered below the floorboards of the entrance lodge at Stanley Mills during building work in 1990.

Object number STN001

Time Period: Modern

Property Information: Stanley Mills

Object type: Bottle

Wicker basket on wheels

Wicker baskets like this one were used to transport cotton made at Stanley Mills in the mid-20th century.

Object number STN027

Time Period: Modern

Property Information: Stanley Mills

Object type: Basket

Cross - MacMillan's Cross

Alexander MacMillan worked for Alexander MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, as the keeper of Castle Sween.

Object number KLM038

Time Period: Medieval

Property Information: Kilmory Chapel

Object type: Cross

St Columba's Pillow

Popularly known as ‘St Columba’s Pillow’, this stone was so famous in the early 1900s that it was put in a metal cage for safe-keeping.

Object number IONA060

Time Period: Early medieval,Medieval

Property Information: Iona Abbey

Object type: Grave marker

Grave slab - Gilbride MacKinnon

Used as a grave slab, this 14th-century stone bears a sculpture of Gilbride, chief of the Mackinnons.

Object number IONA207

Time Period: Medieval

Property Information: Iona Abbey

Object type: Effigy

Urinal

Long before there were en-suite bathrooms, there were urinals like this one.

Object number MEL440

Time Period: Late medieval,Medieval

Property Information: Melrose Abbey

Object type: Pot

Pirlie pig

A pirlie pig is a medieval version of today’s piggy bank.

Object number MEL469

Time Period: Late medieval,Medieval

Property Information: Melrose Abbey

Object type: Money collection box/Collection box

William the Lion penny

A silver penny minted in the reign of William I (1165–1214).

Object number ARB105

Time Period: Medieval

Property Information: Arbroath Abbey

Object type: Coin

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