Historic Scotland has developed a new in-house website in celebration of international industrial heritage as part of its ‘Digitising Heritage’ initiative.
Combining material from the Norwegian Museum of Hydropower and Energy and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, the site documents some of the earliest developments of hydropower in Scotland and Norway.
The project is community led and is intended to harness the experience of users worldwide to explore industrial heritage.
Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop said: “Industry is a key part of Scotland’s cultural heritage, particularly hydropower where in several instances world-leading innovations were developed by engineers and designers working in Scotland from the 19th century onwards.
“I am delighted to launch the ‘Digitising Heritage’ website. Through it people anywhere in the world can find out about pioneering engineering works like Scotland’s Kinlochleven and Norway’s Tyssedal hydro stations. Built a year apart in the early 20th Century, they broke new ground in how power was generated and set a new standard that other countries aspired to.”
The site has been devised to support the work of the International Committee on the Conservation of Industrial Heritage.