Please sign in to post.

Historic Scotland membership

I was thinking about purchasing a Historic Scotland membership rather than the Explorer pass, as I will be in Scotland for 3 weeks. But since it's €10 to have the card mailed, I was hoping to just buy it once I get there.

I fly into Glasgow and will be there for a few days before I head to the islands. It looks like Glasgow Cathedral is part of Historic Scotland so can I just buy the membership at the cathedral and use it from then on? Or is there another Historic Scotland venue where would be easier to buy the membership? Thanks for any information!

Posted by
1634 posts

Historic Scotland maintains the building of Glasgow Cathedral for heritage purposes, but it is free to enter as it is still a working property of the Church of Scotland and the local parish church. It might be easier to have the card, including I'd expect the handbook to be posted to you. There are HS properties in the Greater Glasgow area, such as Newark Castle, Bothwell Castle, Dunbarton Castle, but might not be easy to get to without a car.

Posted by
2633 posts

It looks like there’s an email address for membership questions:

members@hes.scot

https://members.historic-scotland.gov.uk/contact

They can probably suggest the best way for you to get the membership coming from the US. I bet you’d hear back in a day or two. Every time I email a sight in Europe, I get a very prompt response. I emailed Durham castle the other day and had a response in 10 minutes!!

Posted by
1797 posts

Check with Historic Scotland if you can buy membership at Glasgow Cathedral. If not, your best bet would be Newark Castle. You can buy membership at the ticket office on the day.

From the website for Dumbarton and Bothwell Castles "Due to access restrictions in place as a precautionary measure while we undertake high level masonry inspections, there is currently no visitor access to this site."

This is an ongoing problem and many properties have been closed since Covid and there is no indication on the website when they are likely to be reopened.

Posted by
6386 posts

As wasleys stated, you can buy it when you get there at the first sight you visit with a ticket booth. In September we bought ours at Edinburgh castle. For the remainder of the trip we simply needed to show the receipt we were given. There’s a UPC type bar on the receipt that gets scanned, or in some places it was just looked at. We purchased the two concession annual pass.

Posted by
6228 posts

Thanks, everyone - I think I'll just wait till I get there and buy it at the first HS site I go to.

Posted by
1797 posts

Don't forget Mardee, that annual membership also give 20% discount in Historic Scotland shops at their attractions and a 10% discount in their cafés.

Posted by
6228 posts

Oh, I do love discounts, especially when shopping!! Thanks, wasleys!