The National Mining Museum Scotland is the national coal mining museum for Scotland and cares for the Lady Victoria Colliery and the national coal mining collections. The collections at the museum comprise over 100,000 items including objects, archives, photographs and books.
The collections record the social life of mining communities, the economic impact of the industry, and the contribution of miners and their communities to the political development and cultural life of Scotland. It showcases the development of the coal mining industry, illustrating the advances in engineering, science and technology of the mining industry that, in turn, fuelled the industrial revolution in Scotland and sent its echoes around the world. The collections are also a vivid record of the life and work of the coal miners of Scotland.
The collections include mining tools, pictures, trophies, banners, workwear, geology samples, domestic items, archives, a library, photographs, maps and plans gathered from across all the Scottish coal fields. The largest item in the collections is the A-Listed Lady Victoria Colliery itself, the last remaining colliery in Scotland, which sets the collections in context.
The collections of the National Mining Museum Scotland are a Recognised Collection of National Significance highlighting the importance of these collections in telling the story of Scotland.