Scottish Geodiversity Forum AGM, 10 March 2012 Workshop B
Built Heritage: making connections between natural and built environment - Andrew McMillan
Our discussion centred on ‘engaging with the public’. There is great potential to link both local and
distant geology to Scotland’s stone-built environment, whether in a Geopark, city, village, bridge, stone
wall or monolith. Display boards and leaflets offer a couple of ways of doing this. We looked at existing
examples of leaflets and concluded that careful thought is required to prepare them. Who will read
them, what should the focus be (e.g. sources and characteristics of stone, history, industrial heritage,
imports and exports)? Should the leaflet, for example, describe a selection of iconic buildings/structures
across a city or should it be designed as a self-guided walk? There is scope for both. Simple brief
explanations and good illustrations are essential. To assist research and preparation, a sheet of useful
sources of information (organisations, publications, possible partnerships) was circulated. The vital
consideration of funding was not discussed at the workshop. We thought it would be useful if we
identified a group of volunteers including students, interested in developing built heritage themes who
might be able to both assist and learn from those working and researching in this field.
We recommend that a meeting is held with key players (e.g. in the BGS, Historic Scotland and the
universities), the object being to learn what research and survey work is being carried out currently, and
to tap into useful information resources. There is scope for linking to existing website resources via the
SGF and the ScottishGeology.com websites. We would encourage the revival of the Scottish Geology
Festival which provides great scope for running building stone/built heritage tours for the public. The
SGF website also offers the potential to advertise the many local events around the country in which
volunteers could participate. Through these, links might be made with local history groups and others,
thus potentially expanding a network of interested and knowledgeable people.
Sources of information - helpful organisations and publications
Historic Scotland: www.historic-scotland.gov.uk: Research, Reference, Technical Advice Reports;
Inform Series – ashlar, dry stone walls, floors and pavements; Investigating Series for Teachers. Stone
conservation, skills development under Technical Conservation Group; Historic Masonry Research
Group (academic, industry participation)
British Geological Survey: maps, reports, memoirs. Building Stones Team based in Edinburgh: stone
selection for repair, conservation and new build; building stone audits; national database in
development; recent projects in e.g. Glasgow Edinburgh, Orkney Islands, Callander, Bute. In England:
www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/mines/stones/home.html: Strategic Stone Study (SSS) (English Heritage
working with BGS, local geologists and historic buildings experts from each county to identify the stone
used in historic buildings, ranging from castles and cathedrals to houses, walls, roofs, bridges, kerbs,
paving etc.; and then to publish this information via English Building Stone Pits (EBSPits) website. For
Northern Ireland see: www.stonedatabase.com/
SCRAN: www.scran.ac.uk An excellent source of photographs and images from Scotland’s past.
Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain: www.dswa.org.uk/index.asp. There are 5 active
branches in Scotland.
Geological Societies: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen: publish reference (Building Stones of Edinburgh;
Building Stones of Glasgow) and excursion guide books; built heritage-related excursions
Geoconservation, Geoheritage groups: leaflets, display boards, features. Examples: Craigleith, Calton
Hill, Witch Craig Wall, St Andrews Wall, Moniaive GeoDial.
University/college earth science departments (e.g. Glasgow, West of Scotland)
References
Building Stone Resources of the United Kingdom1:1,000,000 scale map (2001, BGS). (simplified
geology, selected quarry locations and buildings across the UK)
Pilot study into the potential for a Building Stones of Scotland publication (2003, Historic Scotland
Reference Report) (although dated, the report provides reference sources, possible funding, contact
details for museums, tertiary education, government and local authorities, trust charitable and amenity
organisations)
Researching your Graveyard (2005, Historic Scotland Reference Report) (guide to recording, sources
of information and organisations)
Building with Scottish Stone (2005 Arcamedia) (popularising use of stone, past and present)
Stone in Scotland (2006, UNESCO, Historic Scotland, BGS, IAEG) (geological background to stone
sources)
Buildings of Scotland Trust (Pevsner) Guides (excellent detailed regional architectural guides)
Natural stone masonry in modern Scottish Construction: a guide for designers and constructors (2008,
Scottish Government) (best practice guidance, education, background legislation)
Possible partnerships
National Trust for Scotland, Historic Scotland, National Parks, AONBs, GeoParks
Quarry companies (stone and slate), stone suppliers, masonry companies – see link to selected stone
company and architectural websites under http://www.sust.org/landofstone.html (a website dedicated to
sustainable design in architecture and the built environment).
Local History societies, museums
Colleges: Edinburgh Telford, Glasgow College of Art
Artists and sculptors (e.g. Andy Goldsworthy; Stone Project of Edinburgh College of Art http://www.stoneproject.org/ )
Scottish Civic Trust; Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, Architectural Heritage Society for Scotland,
conservation architects, APRS
Overseas links: historic export of stone worldwide e.g. Eastern Seaboard of US and Canada; pavement
export; recent restoration of oldest Burns Statue in Australia using Scottish sandstone
The Princes Regeneration Trust (e.g. restoration of Castletown cottages)
ICOMOS (International Council for Monuments and Sites) – Stone Committee – aware of projects to
develop public appreciation of stone
Themes for possible projects
Diverse geology of Scotland and use of stone through time; linking of observations in masonry to
exciting geological processes; historical methods of extracting and preparing stone; valuing of the
heritage, changing perceptions of the built environment around you: public and professional
Outputs
Leaflets, iphone apps., display boards, posters , stone features, quarry interpretation (geology and
products), guided walks, websites
Possible Funding
Building companies, quarrying industry, gov’t agencies.