Domesday books

Scotland’s historical parish records of births, marriages and deaths are kept in New Register House, which dates from the mid-nineteenth century, and so isn’t very new at all.

The galleries in the central dome carry OCD colour coding to new heights, with red birth volumes on the first tier, the death volumes in funereal black on the second, the marriage certificate volumes in green on the third and finally the blue volumes of marriage schedules, signed during wedding ceremonies, on the top tier.

There’s a similar building next door with a much less spectacular dome. I whiled away a ridiculous amount of time there today before realising I was taking photos in the wrong place.

Song