HOW do we select Scotland's most treasured place? By what criteria - architectural, historical, personal - do we identify such a nebulous and debatable spot or structure? Isn't it spurious, perhaps, to even begin to do so, given the inevitably subjective nature of such a choice? The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) clearly doesn't think so, and is calling for public participation in identifying Scotland's ten "Most Treasured Places" from its immense a
Focusing on man-made rather than natural heritage, the "Treasured Places" exhibition will open in 2008, the centenary year of RCAHMS, in Edinburgh's City Art Centre, before touring the country.
A "top ten" of images chosen by public vote will be
included in the exhibition, while "Scotland's favourite archive image", drawing the most votes, will be announced in December.
The cynical may suggest a quiet corner of a pub, or even the space between their ears. Certainly we may be inclined to nominate a "treasured" place more through state of mind or happy association than purely aesthetic merit, such as the otherwise undistinguished tramping grounds of our childhood or a spot on the football terracing - which may be nearer the mark than you may think, such is the breadth of the RCAHMS archive.
However, it is with a definite sense of place - its visual impact, its historical associations, the way it touches us - that the choice is being made. As this selection of images from the archive suggests, its documented places and spaces can range from an unremarkable-looking yet historically profound grassy embankment, the remains of a road along which Roman chariots once rattled, to concrete buttresses sweeping up into a grandiose 1960s vision of the future.
The favoured places and spaces needn't necessarily be scenic or picturesque in the conventional sense, but will certainly include landmarks old and new, such as the familiar cantilevered spans of the Forth Bridge or that much more recent civil engineering marvel, the Falkirk Wheel, as well as well-known historic buildings such as the Wallace Monument or Rosslyn Chapel. Other places may reflect modern society, such as East Kilbride's Dollan Baths (a symbol of 1960s optimism or concrete monstrosity - take your pick), or the death of a community, such as the vanishing Ravenscraig steelworks.
You can nominate a circle of standing stones or an Iron Age hill fort, or the 1970s glass-and-concrete planes of the former Bernat Klein studio outside Selkirk. Less predictable sites from the archive, which may be contenders in their own way, include Ayr Ice Rink and the kit room of East Stirlingshire FC.
For the collection is a vast and varied one. As the national body which documents Scotland's archaeological and historic environment, RCAHMS has been accumulating photographs, drawings and other information since it was established by Royal Warrant in 1908. As well its huge photographic archive, it includes architects' drawings and artists' impressions, such as that of the Wallace Monument shown here, and - increasingly during the past half century or more - aerial photographs illustrating how a scattering of snow or uneven crop growth can throw an otherwise indistinct prehistoric earthwork into sudden, telling relief.
Commenting on the grant award, Colin McLean, the Heritage Lottery Fund's Scottish manager, points out that while the Edinburgh-based Commission has been amassing its record of Scotland's archaeological and historic environment since it was established by Royal Warrant in 1908, it rarely enjoys the opportunity to mount major exhibitions of its collections. "To date, RCAHMS's unique archive has been used mainly by academics and professionals," he says. "This innovative project will open it up to a huge audience."
Associated workshops are planned to encourage communities and youth groups to become involved in the project, particularly with archive images concerning their own areas - encouraging us, you might say, to know our place.
• For further details, see
www.treasuredplaces.org.ukThe full article contains 654 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
