Castles, Concepts and Contexts: Castle Studies in Scotland in Retrospect and Prospect

Abstract

Castellology in Scotland has a history extending back to the mid-1800s when contemporary architects began to plunder medieval architectural styles for inspiration, leading to the development of the Scots Baronial style. Originating in the work of practising architects, in the early 1900s the stiudy of castles became an academic endeavour in which military engineering and typological classificvation dominated analysis. This field of study, where castles were viewed as artefacts to be typologised and categorised in a morphological sequence, remains one of the main strands in Scottish castellology. Since the 1920s, however, there has developed a separate tradition which focuses on the social, economic and political function of castles and on the symbolism and psychology in their construction. In this approach, the emphasis as shifted from chronological typology towards consideration of broader social, cultural, economic and political contexts. this trend has diverged from the traditional structural analyst approach, with its exponents now interpreting castles as components of a broader cultural landscape or landscapes of lordship. The future study of castles in Scotland appears to be moving towards a socio-economic or sociological approach, ending a 150-year fixation of form over function.