2023 Social Events

Welcome Reception
The Dome, 14 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PF
Wednesday 25 January 2023 – 18.30 to 20.00

The Dome is a category A listed building located on George Street which currently functions as a bar and restaurant, although it was first built as the headquarters of the Commercial Bank of Scotland in 1847. The building was designed by David Rhind in Graeco-Roman style. The buildings stands on the site of the Physicians Hall, the offices of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, which was constructed in the 18th century. In January 1844 the old Physicians Hall was demolished to the foundation stone in which were found the silver medals and other relics which are now in possession of the College.

Inside the building, the first big space is a top lit square hall with superimposed Ionic columns - fluted above, smooth scagliola below. From its aisles twin staircases with gilded anthemion balusters ascend to the first floor offices. Beyond, in the magnificent telling hall, a Greek cross with arched ceilings and coffered central dome. In 1930 the windows at the rear of the banking hall were replaced with those we see today, the central one bearing the crest of the Commercial Bank incorporating the motto ‘DIDAT SERVATA FIDES’ - Keep Faith and Prosper - while to each side the windows incorporate the symbol of ‘HERMES’ the legendary god of Commerce, with the device of the winged staff and two entwined serpents.  This choice of emblem is also commemorative of the old Physicians’ Hall since, according to Greek mythology, Aesculapius, the God of Healing who is perpetually represented by a staff and a serpent, was rescued as an infant by Hermes from the funeral pyre of his mother Coronis and carried off to the centaur, Cheiron, for instruction in the art of healing.  This emblem is embossed in the magnificent bronze doors which replaced the original ones at the entrance to the building during these alterations.

 

Annual Conference Dinner
National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF
Thursday 26 January 2023 – 19.00 for 19.30

The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to antiquities, culture and history and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum which opened in 1966 as the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art (renamed in 1904). The two connected buildings stand beside each other on Chambers Street. The Museum of Scotland is housed in a modern building which opened in 1998, while the former Royal Museum building was begun in 1861 and partially opened in 1866, with a Victorian Venetian Renaissance facade and a grand central hall of cast iron construction that rises the full height of the building. This building underwent a major refurbishment and reopened in July 2011 after a three-year £47 million project to restore and extend the building.

The National Museum incorporates the collections of the former National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. As well as the national collections of Scottish archaeological finds and medieval objects, the museum contains artefacts from around the world, encompassing geology, archaeology, natural history, science, technology, art, and world cultures. The evening at the museum will begin with a drink's reception in the entrance hall, followed by dinner in the grand gallery.  Following dinner and speeches there will be music and dancing.