Historic maps safeguarded as digital access expanded
A £146,485 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant will preserve one of Scotland’s most important collections of soil and peat records for future generations. The funding will enable the James Hutton Institute to restore, conserve and digitise around 16,000 historic maps, aerial photographs, field notebooks and survey records collected since 1947.
The project will create an open-access digital archive designed to support researchers, policymakers, farmers, land managers and educators, while protecting fragile records that chart Scotland’s changing landscape. The initiative also reflects growing demand for historic environmental data as governments and land managers tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and sustainable food production.
Historic records
Known as Hutton Unearthed: A New National Soils and Peat Map Archive, the project runs from August 2026 until February 2028.
The archive includes hand-drawn and printed soil and peat maps, land-use surveys, field notebooks, analytical records, land-cover maps dating from the 1930s to the 1990s, aerial photography, soil memoirs and other environmental studies.
Together, the collection documents how Scotland’s soils, peatlands and landscapes have changed over almost 80 years through both natural processes and human activity. The project will also record the experiences of former surveyors and researchers whose work helped shape understanding of Scotland’s land resources. Their recollections will provide historical context alongside the scientific records.
Future access
The grant will fund three temporary posts: a part-time project manager, a full-time archivist and a part-time assistant. The project will run from August 2026 to the end of February 2028.
James Hutton Institute chief executive Colin Campbell said: “Scotland’s soils underpin our food production, biodiversity, water resources and carbon storage, yet much of the history of how we came to understand them is hidden away.”
Professor Campbell added: “Hutton Unearthed will safeguard this unique heritage, make it accessible to all and ensure that the knowledge and stories behind it are not lost.”
Caroline Clark, National Lottery Heritage Fund director for Scotland, added: “This project will collect and save the stories of the people behind the surveys, a fascinating social history and vital context to add to the research records.”