Rosslyn Chapel, now known internationally thanks to a certain book and film. © RCAHMS

The Scottish public are being asked to help create a new exhibition showcasing Scotland’s best-loved places and spaces.

Treasured Places is due to open at the City Arts Centre in Edinburgh in autumn 2008 and will use images from the archives of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS).

The public can vote for their favourites from a selection of 100 images on the Treasured Places website with the top ten guaranteed a place in the exhibition, while the image with the most votes will be announced in December, as Scotland’s favourite archive image.

This image of Kinlochleven aluminium works is part of the RCAHMS's extensive archives. © RCAHMS

Featured places range from celebrated monuments and buildings like the Wallace Monument and Rosslyn Chapel, to feats of engineering such as the Forth Bridge and Falkirk Wheel. Other selections include the kit room of East Stirlingshire Football Club, the ice rink at Ayr or the aluminium works at Kinlochleven.

The vote has been launched with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund to celebrate the centenary of the RCAHMS, which has been collecting information, drawings and photographs since it was established by Royal Warrant in 1908. These are rarely shown in public so the exhibition will be the first chance many of them will have been seen before.

“To date RCAHMS’s unique archive has been used mainly by academics and professionals,” explained Colin McLean, the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Manager for Scotland.

Scots can also vote for heritage sites like Drum Castle. © RCAHMS

“Our built heritage plays an important part in telling the history of Scotland. It gives us our roots and helps us understand where we are today. I think it will be fascinating to find out what people value as our top ten treasured places.”

While the exhibition runs in Edinburgh a complementary touring display will visit ten towns across Scotland and an interactive website will also be developed, where the public will be able to contribute information on their own favourite places to the national record.