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National Museum of Rural Life

East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, Scotland

Quick Guide
See below grid for details

Take a ride in a tractor trailer up to the Georgian farmhouse to visit a real 1950's working farm. The museum and farm are set in 170 acres between East Kilbride and Glasgow.

The National Museum of Rural Life is one of 6 museums that make up the National Museums of Scotland. It consists of a collection of galleries in an exhibition building covering how agriculture and country life still has a significant role in all our lives today. Three main galleries, Land, People and Tools use objects, illustrations, text and multi-media to tell the story of Scottish country life from c.1750 onwards.

In addition there is a 1950's working farm with Georgian buildings. The Kittochside Farm (also known as Wester Kittochside Farm) has, unusually, never been intensively cultivated. This has resulted in the Reid Family, who farmed the land for generations, providing an environmentally rich and diverse area of land, with many traditional rural features which have vanished from the countryside throughout Scotland.  Worked to demonstrate traditional methods, the farm illustrates the period of intense change around 1950 which allows visitors to look back to man and horse power and forward to tractor and combine harvester.

Following the pattern of seasonal work, visitors can see ploughing, seed time, haymaking and harvest. You can also see the dairy herd being milked and see other livestock, such as sheep and chickens, being reared using traditional methods.

We don't have enough information to know if this is a static display within the farmhouse or a living museum, we have classed it as a living museum as it has a period farm.

More Information

The best  history of this farm, which is quite colourful, and description of buildings and other major exhibits can be found in the Wikipedia article. This article also has images, some we felt were up to the quality where we could edit and clean them up to put on this page. We have not identified creative commons images we can use elsewhere.

If you visit please let us have some photos and perhaps provide more information to allow this page to be improved.


Location:  National Museum of Rural Life, East Kilbride, Scotland

Grid Reference: about NS604556
Deduced from postcode.
Ceremonial County: Lanarkshire

Map Link: multimap

Aerial photo: multimap

Getting there: From Glasgow take the A727 to East Kilbride.

From Edinburgh follow the M8 to Glasgow , turn off after Junction 6 on the A725 to East Kilbride.  The Museum is clearly signposted before you reach East Kilbride.

Access:
Website: own
Other Useful Websites: wiki 
Email: No email or response form on website, so phone.
Address: Wester Kittochside, Philipshill Road, (off Stewartfield Way) East Kilbride,
Postcode: G76 9HR Telephone: 0131 247 4377
Opening Times: Daily 10am-5pm  See also events

Charges:  Adult and children over 13 £5.00;  Children 12 and under free, Concessions £4;
National Museums Scotland Members and National Trust for Scotland Members free (charge for special events).

Membership of National  Museums Scotland Individual: £23; Couple £32 (covers 2 adults residing at the same address); Family: £39 (covers 2 adults and 3 children up to the age of 18); £2 less on all memberships when paying by direct debit.

Nearby Locations:

Other Location Pages:

Living History Section

List of Living History Museums

Living history museums introduction

Notes:

Map, aerial photo and grid reference deduced from the postcode, so this may be slightly out.

 

We don't have enough information to know if this is a static display within the farm house of or a living museum, we have classed it as a  living museum as it has a period farm.


CIN Page Ref: national_museum_rural_life

Classification: Living History

Date Updated: 07/2008


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