| Description | Site data index cards for Scotland, arranged by county, principally compiled by William Archibald Macfadyen as Chief Geologist for the Nature Conservancy, [1950s-1960s].
Information generally recorded: reference code: name of site & area; National Grid reference; County; OS & GS map sheet references; date of inspections; state of site; description of site; list of published literature references on the site/area; name of local geological advisor and the person who recommended the site; action taken and remarks. On the back of some of the cards is additional information or notes by Macfadyen, such as map tracings, further bibliographic references and extracts.
Alphabetically arranged by county code which is given on the first card. Note: some areas are not covered and the series includes cards for Edinburgh and Glasgow. |
| Administrative History | The card index was created by William Macfadyen whilst working for Nature Conservancy. In 1991 three country agencies were formed and the Scottish material was moved from Peterborough to the Edinburgh headquarters of what was initially called the Nature Conservancy Council Scotland (1991-1992), which then merged with the Countryside Commission to form Scottish Natural Heritage.
The card index was then housed from 1991 onwards in the Earth Science Group of Scottish natural heritage, (SNH), a group of specialists delivering the Geological Conservation Review which was developed in the 1970s to give a more detailed systematic review of geoconservation interests in the UK. The card index was eventually superseded by paper records and electronic filing systems. T
Scottish Natural Heritage changed its name to NatureScot in the 2020’s and the Earth Science Group was renamed the Geodiversity Group. Various headquarters moves (from Edinburgh to Inverness in the early 2000s) onwards meant the group became dispersed between regional offices. Staff remaining in Edinburgh held onto the filing index as the head office did not want them and had no funds to have them digitised. |