James Hutton Tercentenary

Now showing1 January 2026 – 31 December 2026Ticketed, see website

A year of activities marking 300 years since the birth of James Hutton, father of modern geology and of "Deep Time", including the Scotland's Time Lords gallery.

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On now All of November 2026

At the foot of Salisbury Crags, right next to Dynamic Earth, layers of sediment are bent up and snapped off where molten rock once forced its way in. In the late 1700s James Hutton used that cliff as evidence that the Earth was far older than the 6,000 years people then accepted. The idea became Deep Time, and 3 June 2026 was his 300th birthday.

Most of the birthday programme ran in spring and summer, with walks on Arthur's Seat in April and the Scottish Geology Festival in June. What's there every day is Scotland's Time Lords, the gallery that opens the main galleries. You walk into a mock lecture hall and Hutton appears in the room, a stage-illusion ghost, while blackboard screens illustrate his talk.

This gallery opened in 2014, so this is a birthday banner on Dynamic Earth rather than a new exhibition. It comes with a standard Dynamic Earth ticket.

Look for

Hutton as a Pepper's Ghost
In a lecture hall styled on the past, Hutton appears in the room as a stage illusion and gives his talk while blackboard screens illustrate it.
The talking portraits
In the same room, portraits of the geologists who built on Hutton's work, such as Arthur Holmes, come to life on the walls.
Arthur Holmes's hanging globe
In the second room, a suspended globe shows animated tectonic plates moving and how they create earthquake and volcano zones.
The Deep Time Machine
A room themed as a large lift takes you back through time to the Big Bang and the formation of the Earth.

Good for

Nerding Out
Out-Of-Town Guests
Rainy Days

Skip if

You've already done Dynamic Earth: the Hutton gallery has been part of it since 2014.

With kids

Dino's Saturday Science Club runs Hutton rock detective workshops from September, and the October Outdoor Holiday Clubs in Holyrood Park also cover him.