Historic Environment Scotland

In February this year, winter storms and coastal erosion revealed the shipwreck on a beach in Sanday. The section of wooden hull, measuring 8 x 5 m and weighing around 10 tons, had become exposed within intertidal sands. This caught the attention of the local community, who alerted the authorities. In September, the wreck was carefully transferred into a freshwater conservation tank funded by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, with the help of Wessex Archaeology's marine specialists and members of Orkney Islands Council’s Culture Team. This week, we were thrilled to announce funding of £21,000 to Wessex Archaeology and Dendrochronicle to carry out further research of the Sanday Wreck. The funding will support in-depth analysis including dating, reporting and archiving to help shed light on this remarkable discovery. Find out more in our news centre at https://ow.ly/EeNl50UlJuR

We're excited about the great news of #NotreDame's reopening this weekend! ⛪ Thanks to the tremendous effort and impressive skill of artisans from all over the globe, the masterpiece of French Gothic architecture was restored after the devastating fire of 2019. While there is a wonderful sense of pulling together in the face of a tragedy, this does highlight that these traditional skills are in short supply the whole world over. If any of Scotland's medieval buildings suffered a similar fire, we would potentially struggle to find structural carpenters who could reconstruct places like the Great Hall at Stirling or Edinburgh Castle. This NCAP image shows Notre Dame and the Île de la Cité on 25 September 1944, shortly after the liberation of Paris a month previously. Discover Paris through history from above with the NCAP Air Photo Finder: 📷 https://ow.ly/fYtP50Ulwsz

Want to be part of making history accessible to the world? 🌎 We have an exciting new volunteering opportunity coming up at NCAP to do exactly that! NCAP is one of the world’s biggest collections of aerial photography and features over 30 million images that capture historic events and places from the air. 🛩📷 Our new NCAP Digital Connectors will look at digitised aerial photos from the collection to identify the area each photo covers on a modern map. In some cases, you will get to use your research skills to find out more about the photo locations. 🔍 Your effort will help make the photos available and easy to use for millions of people on NCAP’s new Air Photo Finder. 🗺 Find out more and register your interest: https://lnkd.in/eXg6Z5Jy #InternationalVolunteerDay

Wherever you live in Scotland, you have access to the local historic environment. This could be a church or castle, standing stones, a changing high street, objects in your local museum, photographs in your local gallery or archives in your local library, your home or even your school. That makes it a rich learning environment, as our Head of Learning and Inclusion Craig Fletcher explains in this guest blog for Children in Scotland. https://ow.ly/SNJS50Uk5Tt

A huge well done to Lewis Elder, apprentice stonemason at JOHN LAIDLAW & SON LIMITED in Jedburgh, who trained at our Stirling Skills Training Centre - and has just won the Stonemasonry competition at this year’s SkillBuild National Finals! Following regional heats, finalists attended a three-day competition where they had 18 hours to construct a project designed by an expert panel of judges. They were assessed on technical ability, time management, problem solving, skills working under pressure, and compliance with health and safety requirements. SkillBuild, delivered by the CITB (Construction Industry Training Board), is the largest and longest-running multi-trade skills competition in the UK, which brings together highly skilled learners and apprentices to battle it out to be crowned winners of their chosen trade. Commenting on his win, Lewis said: “I’m really happy with the win, especially with the standard being so high across the competition. The encouragement from the staff at the Skills Training Centre and my employer has been great, and I’d like to say thanks to everyone that has supported me throughout.” Lesley Cadger, Head of Technical Education and Training at HES, added: “We’re delighted for Lewis and congratulate him on this fantastic achievement. “This win demonstrates the quality of our skills training programmes and the expertise and dedication of our colleagues who deliver them. “Events such as SkillBuild shine a light on the importance of skills like stonemasonry at a time when the sector is facing acute shortages. These traditional skills are vital if we are to ensure a sustainable future for our built heritage, emphasising the need to maintain high quality training opportunities in these fields.”

Happy St Andrew’s Day! St Andrew has been recognised as 'patron and protector' of the Scots since the 1300s. But who was St Andrew? Check out our blog to find out more about Scotland's patron saint. 👇 https://ow.ly/68nj50UiefJ Did you know that, according to legend, St Andrew was crucified at Patras, Greece, on an X-shaped cross, insisting he was not worthy of a cross the same as Jesus’s. This is the origin of the saltire on Scotland’s flag. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

When people come together, great things can happen - including the care, conservation and improved understanding of historic objects like the Stone of Destiny. On #StAndrewsDay 1996, the stone was returned to Edinburgh from Westminster Abbey and placed in our care. Since then, our experts have had the chance to carry out all sorts of analysis and conservation work on the stone. And ahead of the Coronation of King Charles III, our specialist Applied Conservation, Heritage Science and Digital Documentation teams had unprecedented access to the stone to check its condition, analyse its composition and create a 3D digital record. We've just published a report bringing together all of that information. Get the lowdown from our Engine Shed blog: https://lnkd.in/e_5xsVYu And if you'd like to see the stone in real life, head to its beautiful new home at Perth Museum, run by Culture Perth and Kinross.

💭Consultation events 💬 Can you help us to shape our corporate plan for the next 3 years? Our historic environment has a vital role to play in addressing some of the most pressing concerns facing individuals, businesses, and communities today. But where should we put our efforts? Join us for an online workshop to discuss ideas and concerns: - Thursday 5 December 5, 2-3:30pm (special focus on island communities) - Tuesday 10 December, 2-3.30pm - Thursday 12 December, 10:30am-12pm 🔗 Find out more and book: https://ow.ly/wjxh50UeMxM 💻 You can also feed in by responding to our consultation online: https://ow.ly/FjXv50UeMxN

We are holding a funding info session (Thu 28 November) on our heritage focussed and area based Heritage and Place Programme (H&PP) which is currently open for new expressions of interest! 🌱 Applications are open to local authorities, national park authorities, and experienced not-for-profit organisations based in Scotland who can work in partnership with local authorities to deliver these schemes🏡 Our colleagues from National Lottery Heritage Fund (HF) will also be at this session to talk about their area based funding. We'll cover: • Programme Criteria • What We Can Fund • How to Apply 📅 Date: 28 November 2024, 11am to 12.15pm  📍 Location: Online Don't miss this opportunity to learn more and get your questions answered! 🌟 Book your place by emailing grants@hes.scot Find out more about the Heritage & Place Programme https://ow.ly/L0OL50Ua7e1

This photo is 75 years old today! 🤯 But what can it tell us about how Holyrood Park has changed over the decades? Head over to our blog to dive into the changes, from new woodlands to vanished railway tracks. Explore the hidden stories and imagine the park's future...