Scotland’s Urban Past

Scotland’s Urban Past (SUP) will support communities across Scotland to explore the architectural and social histories of the towns and cities where they live and work.

SUP builds on the success of Scotland’s Rural Past (SRP), the pioneering five-year community archaeology initiative which trained hundreds of volunteers the length and breadth of Scotland in researching and recording historic rural settlements and landscapes.

At least 60 local SUP projects will be developed, and participants will include local groups already interested in their urban past, young people, and audiences traditionally less likely to be involved in heritage activities.

The scale of each individual project will range from investigations of a building, street or neighbourhood, to an entire urban area. Some participants will be trained in conventional survey and recording techniques while others may choose to gather old photographs, research historical documents, and collect oral histories. Creative projects are also likely to form a significant part of SUP, with the urban past being celebrated in art, film, music and performance.

New material researched and gathered by local residents will be added to the RCAHMS database, Canmore – and to local and regional archives – to help enrich the record of the urban past. Through 'crowd-sourcing', people will add imagery and information to 50,000 urban sites on Canmore that currently have only limited records, and a mobile website will enable participants to access detailed architectural notes and to upload information.

RCAHMS has been awarded a development grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) in order to prepare a full application for funding the SUP project. The application will be submitted to the HLF in March 2014 and, if successful, SUP will commence in autumn 2014.

During the development phase we are consulting with several hundred representatives of the audience groups most likely to participate in SUP, including new audiences, young people, and local interest groups. Potential stakeholders will also be consulted in order to establish a network of local, regional and national organisations interested in collaborating with SUP.

If you would like to find out more about SUP or if you have any suggestions about the project, please contact the Project Development Co-ordinator Tertia.Barnett@rchams.gov.uk