Scotland’s Heritage Hub

For 245 years, the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland has championed the study of Scotland’s history and antiquities. Founded in 1780, and granted a Royal Charter in 1783, the Society was a meeting place of people, ideas and research. The Society bought property and rented accommodation so that the objects acquired or researched by Fellows (members) 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.

Today, we are a thriving heritage charity and learned society with over 2,600 Fellows (members), with the charitable mission of supporting the research, sharing, enjoyment and protection of Scotland’s past — for everyone, at home and abroad.

In line with our charitable objectives and commitment to long-term financial sustainability, the Society has recently adopted a strategic aim to become more public-facing — engaging broader audiences and the wider heritage community and making our knowledge and expertise more accessible to all.

The Challenge

The Society is currently based in a converted attic flat within the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. These premises pose accessibility barriers for Fellows and staff and restricts our ability to be public facing.  We currently have no facilities for hosting meetings and rely on costly external venues for our events. This lack of infrastructure directly limits our ability to deliver external training to address sector-wide skills shortages, host in-person lectures/workshops, and enable knowledge exchange. It also restricts our capacity to engage new audiences, particularly younger generations in Scotland’s heritage.  Critically, it limits our ability to engage diverse and marginalised communities, those often excluded from conversations about the past.

Without action, these restrictions will continue to erode the Society’s impact, hindering our ability to meet the evolving needs of Scotland’ heritage, threaten sustainability, and ultimately jeopardise two centuries of our cultural legacy.

However, we have an exciting new vision that will address these challenges. The creation of an independent, inclusive and low carbon Heritage Hub for Scotland.

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