Scotland’s Rural Past is an exciting initiative aimed at improving understanding and appreciation of our rural heritage.

Welcome to the Scotland’s Rural Past website. Scotland's Rural Past is a five year initiative, run by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) with partnership funding. The project, which was launched in October 2006, is working with local communities to research, record and promote Scotland's vanishing historic rural settlements and landscapes.

Scotland's Rural Past was awarded Highly Commended in the Best Archaeological Projects category in the prestigious British Archaeological Awards from the British Academy. This was in recognition of the valuable work being acheived by our volunteer participants across Scotland.

This website provides guidance and advice for anyone wishing to investigate the archaeology of abandoned rural settlements or explore the stories and lives of the people that lived in them. Over 60 community-led projects have been initiated across Scotland since the start of Scotland's Rural Past, and you can find out what our participating projects are doing on our Projects pages. Together these projects are really improving our understanding of Scotland's rural heritage, from the Western Isles to the Scottish borders. Our participants also share their results with a wider audience through our annual conference and through the many local events that they organise. With so many projects on the go across Scotland, our resources are now committed to providing support and we are only able to take on a very small number of new projects.

You can also discover more about our Education programme with schools across Scotland and, if you are a teacher, you might be interested in our Resource Packs. This information is all in our Learning section.

You might also like to get involved with Scotland's Rural Past through our photo competition and have a chance to win a fabulous prize!

 Click here to find out more about Scotland’s Rural Past.