Portal to the Past

Some of our Local Studies collections are based at off-site storage. For more information, or to view anything from the Local Studies and Museum Collections, contact:

Heritage Services: Giffnock Heritage Centre, Giffnock Community Library, Station Road, Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, G46 6JF. Visit in person, or contact us on 0141 577 3872 or at localstudies@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk  

For more information, or to view anything from the Archive collection, see the contact details under Archive Collection below.

These collections are described below.

Local Studies Collection

This includes archives, ephemera, framed photographs and paintings and other miscellaneous items. To find out more about what we have in our extensive collection, you can search our Heritage Database.

Examples of the types of material held in the Local Studies Collection include:

Museum Collections

The vast majority of the collections contain 20th century material (26 in total), while 10 of the collections contain 19th century material. There is even some green glazed mediaeval pottery.

Perhaps the most interesting of the museum collections is the one which relates to the Gibson family of Barrhead. Most of the objects in it belonged to Margaret Gibson, who died in 1933 aged 11. Items include her clothes, jewellery, toys, books, school books and personal treasures, giving a rare and comprehensive view of a child’s life.

To find out more about what we have in the museum collection, you can search our Heritage Database. The collection contains a wide variety of material - here are a few examples:

Archive Collection

There is a separate archive collection under the care of the Records Manager. Some of these archives are listed in our Heritage Database and include:

For more information or to view these archives contact: Craig Geddes, Records Manager, phone 0141 577 3059 or e-mail craig.geddes@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk