Overview of Royal Museum, The

Forming the major part of the National Museums of Scotland, the Royal Museum is located in Chambers Street in central Edinburgh. This A-listed Victorian building was designed by Captain Francis Fowke, of the Royal Engineers. Externally the building exhibits Venetian Renaissance style, while the main hall develops the open architectural style developed by Sir Joseph Paxton for the Crystal Palace in London.

The 36 galleries include exhibits of natural history, geology, applied art and social and technological history. In 1998, the Royal Museum was united with the National Museum of of Antiquities, which had previously been in Queen Street. The museum building was significantly extended in 1999, to create a Museum of Scotland, devoted to the history and culture of the country. The original building re-opened in 2011 following a three-year refurbishment at the cost of £47.4 million. More than 20,000 objects are now on display.

Originally the Museum of Science and Art, it was built to house the University of Edinburgh's natural history collections, which had previously been located in Old College. In 1854, parliament authorised funds for the new museum and the foundation stone was laid by Prince Albert in 1861, his last public duty before his early death. The building proceeded in a series of phases, which were not all completed until 1888.

Opened in 1866, relations between the University and the new museum deteriorated quickly due to the constant borrowing of specimens for teaching and their occasional loss. The limited care and attention paid to the collection by the University came to a head when Professor Charles Wyville Thomson (1830-82), who was the responsible curator, left on the Challenger Expedition. Consequently, the museum went ahead and appointed its own curators, and symbolically the bridge, which can still be seen today linking the two institutions across West College Street, was permanently sealed.