History

The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland traces its origins back to a campaigning group formed in 1956 in Edinburgh, to protest against the University’s planned demolition of George Square in order to site its new library building.  The group named itself the Georgian Group of Edinburgh.

In 1959 the group reconstituted itself as the Scottish Georgian Society, reflecting its campaigning and participation in the planning process throughout Scotland.

This constitution document, with subscriptions in guineas and envisaging the appointment of ‘local wardens’, ‘for the informative and protective purposes on the Society’, was modelled on that of the York Georgian Society, and was recently found in a library book in Oxford.

In 1984 the Society changed its name from the Scottish Georgian Society to the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland, reflecting its broader interest in all periods of Scottish architecture.

In 2009 the Society was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee.

The Society started life with evening meetings in the drawing rooms of Edinburgh, and did not have office space until 1969 when it occupied rooms in the offices of Murray Beith Murray on Castle Street.

More recently it has had its home at the Glasite Meeting House on Barony Street, followed by Riddles Court on the Lawnmarket and, since 2014, the attic floor of the offices of the Royal Incorporation of Architects of Scotland at 15 Rutland Square.

The history of the early years of the Society, written by our founder Eleanor Robertson, appeared in the fortieth anniversary edition of our magazine in 1996.