Scotland’s Heritage Hub
The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland was founded in 1780 as a meeting place of people, ideas and research.
From 1781, the Society bought property and rented accommodation so that the objects that Fellows acquired or researched could be examined, stored and displayed. By 1850, free admission to this collection was attracting 17,000 visitors per year. Our collections eventually passed into public ownership in 1851 as the original collections of the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (now the National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street in Edinburgh) in return for several benefits, including accommodation.
The Society is presently housed within the Museum where we have been actively supporting the study and enjoyment of Scotland’s past for the last 170 years, but we have now reached the limits of what we can do with our current resources. 11 members of staff are working in 56.5sq m (608sq ft) of useable office space with serious challenges relating to accessibility, renting lecture space for our annual programme of public talks which represents additional annual expenditure, and are unable to welcome Fellows, project partners and guests easily to our premises.
It is time to reinvigorate our mission by returning the Society to a more public-facing charity and a physical meeting place will provide the increased capacity required to achieve this goal. However, we intend to create a space, not just for the future of the Society, but for the future of Scottish heritage.
Scotland is currently lacking a bespoke heritage space coordinated by an organisation that is not dependent on government funding which is dedicated to welcoming people from all walks of life to explore all aspects of Scotland’s past. A space that allows for open discussions addressing the challenges we face today while enabling the sector to work towards our shared objectives. A space that brings together different heritage organisations to collaborate, to conceive of new research and to engage with the public.
As a charity mainly funded through membership subscriptions and as a recognised independent heritage organisation with a diverse range of views and expertise within its membership, the Society can provide this neutral space.
Our vision is for Scotland’s Heritage Hub to be the first co-created, independent, national centre of knowledge exchange for Scotland’s historic environment, helping to deliver the Society’s vision that Scotland’s past is for everyone to research, share, enjoy and protect, at home and abroad, while enabling the sector to work towards our national strategies.
A series of residential rental flats above the hub spaces would also provide income to maintain the building and long-term financial sustainability for the Society, ensuring it continues for the next 240 years.
Image Credits: Horizons Research and Benjamin Tindall Architects
Scotland’s most inclusive, low-carbon and heritage-rich space in which to work, visit and participate
