Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has launched a new digital site trove.scot which brings together its amazing collection of information and images.

From standing stones to skate parks, trove.scot contains over 5,000 years of Scotland’s history in approximately 3 million records, combining designation records of Scotland’s most important historic sites and buildings; the catalogue of Scotland’s archaeology and built heritage; over 2,000 culturally significant objects from HES’s properties; and educational and archival images and media from SCRAN.

On trove.scot, users can find out more about some of the most significant historic sites in Orkney, such as the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage site, which comprises one of the richest surviving Neolithic landscapes in Western Europe; unearth gems from HES’s Properties in Care, including Neolithic beads made from animal bone and teeth which were discovered at Skara Brae and which may have been used as a necklace more than 4500 years ago; and step back in time with archive images of the excavations at Skara Brae between 1928 and 1930, which revealed the prehistoric dwellings we can see today.

trove.scot will make this wealth of information more accessible than ever before, providing an exciting new resource for hobbyists, educators, historians and heritage professionals alike. Using filters, keyword and map searches, users can now unearth a range of detail from HES’s different sources in a single search.

Katerina Brown, Chief Executive of HES, said:

“We are excited to be bringing heritage even closer to people’s everyday lives with this new platform. trove.scot will make it easier to learn about the heritage and historic environment that surrounds you, whether that is the listed buildings on your street or archive images of historic events that shaped communities.”

“trove.scot marks one of the largest investments in our programme to improve and enhance digital access to information on the historic environment, and increase the number and diversity of people who engage with Scotland’s history and heritage.

“We hope that by making the vast store of information we hold more accessible, trove.scot will encourage more people to dig into Scotland’s past and see what they can discover with the new platform. Of course, the launch is just the beginning, and we’ll continue working hard behind the scenes to bring more exciting innovations to service.”

Unlock 5,000 years of history anytime, anywhere with trove.scot, the key to Scotland’s past.