This issue tackles various subjects relating to agricultural and rural architectural heritage.

Victoria Collison (Historic Churches Scotland) and Sarah Pearce (a well-kent face among AHSS members and now Heritage Trust Network’s Development Officer for Scotland), discuss the closure and sale of church buildings. With so many Church of Scotland buildings now surplus to congregations’ needs – especially in rural areas – what uses can they fulfil? As part of a church’s reinvention, fixtures and fittings may need to be removed. The question of what happens to pipe organs, many of great cultural importance, is explored by Alan Buchan, from the Scottish Federation of Organists.

Michael Cowen’s article on high farming in Dumfries and Galloway examines three very different sites from his perspective as a farmer. They range from the ostentatious ‘Coo Palace’ at Corseyard Farm to the highly practical Wallets Number One Sale Ring in Castle Douglas, still in use today as a cattle mart.

Hazel Johnson reviews the proposed Agriculture Bill in relation to the built environment. She highlights its impact on future agricultural policy and how an approach that links heritage, Net Zero targets, nature, and rural communities’ needs would be beneficial.

The ‘Spotlight’ in this issue focuses on the Jacobean Corsetry building on Glasgow’s Virginia Street. An independent researcher, Mark Dougan, proposes a new timeline for the site, suggesting its origin was domestic rather than commercial. Further, could its design be a rare example of Sir John Soane’s work in Scotland?

Plus, book reviews, activity reports from Historic Environment Scotland, Heritage Trust Network and Community Land Scotland, as well as reports on our casework. https://www.ahss.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Spring-2023-AHSS-Magazine-web-spreads.pdf

AHSS Members can access the entire digital archive as part of their subscription.

Register here and then login in with your username/email and password to access our Magazine section.

BACK

Spring 2023 Magazine

Two themes run through the Spring issue of the magazine: climate change and storytelling.

The first feature is a partial transcription of the BBC QuestionTime-style event hosted by the Society during COP26, which is followed by a summary of the conference’s outcomes.

2022 is both ‘Scotland’s Year of Stories’ and the culmination of celebrations marking 250 years since Walter Scott’s birth, so it is fitting that we include an article examining his impact on architecture by Simon Green.

Esther R. Clark led the Ayr Station Hotel campaign group for many years, and although she has passed on the baton, she is now Secretary of Ayr Development Trust. In her twin articles, she takes us through the projects and what the next steps must be to secure the town’s future.

In our Spotlight feature, Ben Tindall reveals the story of (John) Cowane’s Hospital in Stirling, an incredible survivor as a 17th-century civic institution and as an architectural gem.The magazine’s cover photograph, by Colin McLean, shows its central location and (for better or worse) its proximity to Stirling Castle.

Elsewhere in the magazine: Mary Miers, AHSS’s President, picks her favourite building. Plus, book reviews, activity reports from Historic Environment Scotland, Heritage Trust Network and Community Land Scotland, as well as reports on our casework.

AHSS Members can access the entire digital archive as part of their subscription.

Register here and then login in with your username/email and password to access our Magazine section.

BACK

Spring 2022 Magazine

The Autumn issue covers a wide range of topics, including education, skills, and climate change.

In the main features, John Coyne looks at how the carbon emissions of new and old buildings are calculated. Jocelyn Cunliffe reports on the AHSS’s responses to two recent consultations on the energy efficiency of traditional buildings and the skills required for their maintenance and repair. In 2020, Kimahew Education Trust acquired the 140-acre Kilmahew Estate – in the third feature, Ally Cotton, the Executive Chair of Kilmahew Education Trust, lays out their vision for the site. In the fourth main feature, S6 student Phoebe Vendil interviews Ruth Hamilton, the coordinator of ‘Archischools,’ a project that aims to engage children and young people with the built environment.

Elsewhere in the magazine: Bill Paterson, AHSS’s new Patron, picks his favourite building. Plus, book reviews, activity reports from Historic Environment Scotland, Heritage Trust Network and Community Land Scotland, as well as reports on our casework.

AHSS Members can access the entire digital archive as part of their subscription.

Register here and then login in with your username/email and password to access our Magazine section.

BACK

Autumn 2021 Magazine

The Spring issue focuses on tourism and the built environment.

In the main features, Karen Anderson explores the relationship between architecture and sustainable tourism. Carol Young discusses establishing a Scottish museum of empire, colonialism, slavery, and migration. Hamish Mackenzie looks at the architectural legacy of the Mainlands of Tain across the Northern Highlands and Dr John Coyne, AHSS North East Group Chair, writes about the asymmetry that currently exists in the planning system regarding listed structures. Paul Muir Wood challenges our readers to identify four more sites from the National Galleries of Scotland’s collection.

Elsewhere in the magazine: RIAS President, Christina Gaiger picks her favourite building and AHSS North East Fife Secretary, Peter Davidson examines Lorimer’s masterpiece, Hill of Tarvit. Plus, book reviews and reports on our casework.

AHSS Members can access the entire digital archive as part of their subscription.

Register here and then login in with your username/email and password to access our Magazine section.

BACK

Spring 2021 Magazine

Wednesday 20th January 2021

UPDATE

Members may be interested to know that there will be presentations related to the future of the former Royal High School to City of Edinburgh Council’s Finance and Resources Committee which meets at 10.00am on Thursday 21 January 2021.

This is the link to the live webcast.

 

BACK

Former Royal High School: CEC Finance and Resources Committee Meeting | Live Webcast | 21 Jan | 10.00am

Local Development Plan 2 / Abbotsford House and Netherbarns, Galashiels, Site Code AGALA029

This issue centres around the theme of climate change and the historic environment.

In the main features, former AHSS Chair, Peter Drummond considers the transformation of historic buildings to meet climate change targets. Rab Bennetts discusses the transformation of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary into the Edinburgh Futures Institute. Harry Whitmore shares his experience of attending the 2019 Scottish Ecological Design Association conference and his thoughts on the significance of exposing architecture students to ecological thinking. In the fourth feature, Euan Leitch investigates the connections between slavery and climate change.

AHSS Members can access the entire digital archive as part of their subscription.

Register here and then login in with your username/email and password to access our Magazine section.

 

BACK

Autumn 2020 Magazine

This year has been designated Scotland’s ‘Year of Coasts and Waters’, and our spring magazine contains five features on that theme.

Elsewhere in the magazine, there are the usual activity and casework reports from our local groups and a report on Ayr’s troubled high street by the former AHSS Chairman Michael Davis.

AHSS Members can access the entire digital archive as part of their subscription.

Register here and then login in with your username/email and password to access our Magazine section.

BACK

Spring 2020 Magazine