Restoration of castles in Scotland

The buildings involved in restoration projects in Scotland vary from partially collapsed, roofless, stone ruins to continuously-occupied residences in serious need of repair.  Many have required extensive rebuilding, especially at the upper levels of the building, but also of internal walls and vaults. A 2011 study found that between 1945 and 2010 ninety-seven castles were "reoccupied from a (near) ruinous state".[4]

In addition, around a further 150 castles and tower houses still in a roofed condition have been upgraded. The work required may constitute a refurbishment – that is, the upgrading and installation of services without material alteration to the structure[4] or major changes to the interior and/or exterior of the building. An example is Cassillis House in Ayrshire which, while not ruinous, was extensively restored in the 2010s.[5]

Conservation and restoration projects on castles have been carried out by private individuals and companies as well as by bodies such as Historic Environment Scotland (HES) and the National Trust for Scotland (NTS). A restoration of the Great Hall of Stirling Castle was completed by Historic Scotland (one of HES' predecessors) in 1999,[6] but parts of the castle have been restored or rebuilt many times since its original construction, one of the earliest such projects having been undertaken in 1617, when architect James Murray restored the roofs and some of the facilities pending a royal visit.[7]

Other castles have also been conserved by private trusts, as with the restoration of Portencross Castle, work which was largely funded by grants from sources such as the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Architectural Heritage Fund.[8] The Landmark Trust has restored tower houses such as Fairburn Tower on the Cromarty Firth in north east Scotland.[9]

Fawside Castle, floor plans showing the Keep and the L-shaped part.

An example of a typical restoration project is the restoration of Fawside (or Fa'side) Castle near Edinburgh, which was carried out between 1976 and 1982. The work was primarily undertaken to provide a home for the owners.[10] The castle was in a ruinous state, a large part of the building being roofless; many areas of wall heads had fallen away. The project turned out to be far more costly than the owners envisaged. Because of its scale, the owners employed tradesmen to carry out most of the work.

The building was typical of many tower houses, although perhaps larger than average. It consisted of two wings: the original 14th-century keep with massively built walls and a later L-shaped addition from the 15th-16th century. The keep element was still roofed, but the L-shaped part was roofless and wall tops had fallen away, including those of two bartizans (turrets) where only the bases remained.[11]

This restoration required much research in advance, some conjecture in replacing lost features, and many discussions with Historic Scotland, the local authority in Haddingtonshire, fire officers, the architect and other specialists. Applications for grants, totalling over £100,000, were successful.[12]

After rubble, including fallen masonry, had been removed from the interior, the building work began with rebuilding of walls, inserting new floors, roofing the L- shaped part and the addition of services such as plumbing, heating and electrics, etc. Substantial supplies of stone, timber and roof slates had to be sourced and purchased. Finally, the exterior of the building was harled. In the course of these activities, several original features of the building were rediscovered, for example on the second floor of the L-shaped wing a mural chamber with a sunken recess was discovered behind an old cupboard.[13]

An aspect of this restoration was the extensive use of modern materials – bricks and concrete for parts of the structure. The re-instated basement level vault was constructed in concrete. Cross walls and bartizans were rebuilt in brick. The use of such materials has caused discussion in conservation circles. Some projects have avoided modern materials and rebuilt and repaired only in stone.[14]

Not all 'restorations' of castles and tower houses have been successful. Some have failed for reasons such as lack of finance or have simply taken a very long time.[15]

The motivations for restorations have been various, but most common has been the desire to rescue an old building for private domestic owner-occupation.[16]

The process has caused debate, with Historic Scotland and local planning authorities rejecting many restoration projects. In the period from the 1960s to the 1990s, Historic Scotland and its predecessor organisations approved and grant-aided a considerable number of restoration projects, largely under the direction of Professor David Walker, the then Chief Inspector of Monuments. Walker quotes 53 grant aided projects.[17] 'Restorers' have argued that, as well as providing homes they are rescuing buildings that would otherwise have eventually decayed or collapsed.  Elements of the 'conservation' lobby argue that ruins should be preserved as found, following Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) principles; other concerns are that inappropriate materials may be used for repairs and rebuilds and that restoration can conceal much of the early history of the building.

The 'conservation' approach became more prominent through the 1990s and beyond. Although HES (formed by a merger of HS and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland) now has a list of buildings suitable for restoration,[18] fewer and fewer castle restoration projects have been undertaken in the 2000s, as can be seen from Inglis' table of completed restorations (op cit, pp 258–260). This has been due to factors such as a lack of availability of suitable sites, a greater realisation of the huge amount of work and costs that may be involved, and greater reluctance on the part of the authorities to endorse and/or grant aid restoration projects.

Castle Tioram

A full list of castle restorations up to 2010 is contained in Inglis (op cit). For more details of the restoration processes, the following selected case studies in various books and publications contain more in-depth accounts.

Image	Castle	Location	Date	References
	Aiket	Ayrshire	1970s	Clow, Brennan-Inglis
	Aikwood	Selkirkshire	1980s	Fawcett & Rutherford, Brennan-Inglis
	Balgonie	Fife	1970s	Fawcett & Rutherford
	Barholm	Dumfries & Galloway	2000s	Brennan-Inglis
	Caldwell Tower	East Renfrewshire	2011	Davis
	Fawside	East Lothian	1970s/80s	Clow
	Fenton Tower	East Lothian	2000s	Dallas, Ed
	Liberton Tower	Midlothian	1990s	Fawcett & Rutherford
	Mains Castle (High Mains)	East Kilbride	1970s/80s	Clow
	Melgund	Angus	1990s	Fawcett & Rutherford
	Menzies	Perthshire	1970s	Fawcett & Rutherford
	Midhope	West Lothian	1990s	Clow
	Muckrach Castle	Highland	1990s	Clow
	Rossend Castle	Fife	1970s	Fawcett & Rutherford
	Rusco Tower	Dumfries and Galloway	1970s	Clow
	Tilquhilly	Kincardshire	1980/90s	Clow
	Towie Barclay	Aberdeenshire	1970s	Fawcett & Rutherford

• Castles in Great Britain and Ireland

• Restoring Scotland's Castles, 2000, Robert Clow, Editor. Report of a conference held in Glasgow in 1991 (but not published until 2000). Very detailed chapters on eleven restorations, largely written by the original owner-occupiers and/or their architects and builders.[21]
• Scotland's Castle Culture, 2011, Dakin, Glendinning & MacKechnie, Eds. A detailed overview of the history of all castle building in Scotland since the 13th century. Chapter 5 by Watters and Chapter 6 by Walker summarise the modern restoration movement, especially Walker, who was HS Chief Inspector of Historic Buildings from 1975 to 1993.[17]
• The Scottish Castle Restoration Debate 1990 – 2012, 2013, Michael C Davis. This work touches on many topics not covered elsewhere, for example, Davis considers the over dominance of archaeological as against architectural history in assessing restorations. In general he favours the restoration route as having saved many buildings which would otherwise continue to decay.
• Ayrshire’s Castle Restorations, 2020, Michael C Davis, pp116–130. A shorter article by Davis published by the Castle Studies Group,[22] while focussed on restored Ayrshire castles the article summarises many of the arguments for and against restorations.[23]
• Renewed Life for Scottish Castles, 2011, Richard Fawcett & Allan Rutherford. Part of an initiative commenced by Historic Scotland in 2009 to consider future policy towards conservation and restoration. While independently written it contains the semi-official HS point of view.[6]
• Managing Change in the Historic Environment: Castles and Towerhouses, 2017, Historic Environment Scotland. Non-statutory guidance note "...for anyone considering a [Scottish] castle consolidation or restoration project."[24]
• Scotland's Castles: Rescued, Rebuilt and Reoccupied, 2014, Janet Brennan-Inglis. A more personal and informal approach to the subject, but of particular interest as the author and her husband have personally restored a tower house, Barholm Tower. Focusses in particular on the restorers, their projects and their experiences.[16]
• Scotland’s Castles: Rescued, Rebuilt and Reoccupied, 1945–2010, PhD Thesis, University of Dundee, 2011, Janet Inglis. A very thorough and comprehensive review, with many tables, appendices and references[25]
• Faultless Towers, 2023, Mary Miers. Article supporting restorations written by the Founder and Director of the Scottish 'Buildings at Risk Register', published in the 'Scottish Field' magazine.[26]