The RCAHMS Royal
Warrant. SC369973

Why were we established?
The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) was established by Royal Warrant in 1908 to make a list or Inventory of the surviving heritage from the earliest times up to the year 1707. We were created at a time when there was widespread concern at the destruction of historical monuments through quarrying and construction. There was also a growing appreciation of the need to assess surviving sites and structures, as the means to decide which should be preserved.

Where did our work start?
We started working through Scotland, recording monuments county by county and published the results in Inventories, the first volume of which was for Berwickshire. A full list of published Inventories is available.

How has our work developed?
Since 1908, the scope and depth of RCAHMS' recording programme and the range of our duties have increased considerably. In 1948, the recording remit was extended to include, on a selective basis, structures up to 1850. In 1966, the Scottish National Buildings Record was transferred to RCAHMS, thereby creating the National Monuments Record of Scotland (NMRS), along with the responsibility for the recording of threatened buildings. An aerial photographic survey programme started in 1976, and in 1983 we were given the task of supplying archaeological information to the Ordnance Survey for mapping purposes. In 1985, the Scottish Industrial Archaeology Survey, formerly in the University of Strathclyde, was transferred to RCAHMS along with its archive. In 1989, we were made responsible for the strategic survey of land likely to be covered in forestry; and in 1993 the extensive collections of the Scottish Office aerial photographic unit were transferred to the NMRS.

We publish books on a variety of subjects although the publication of Inventories has stopped and, today, the results of our survey and recording are presented to the public through Canmore.