Cultural and physical factors in the history and development of traditional external wall coatings in Scotland

Abstract

This thesis challenges the perception of Scotland as a nation defined by rugged stone architecture. Instead, it posits a form of building that recognised the importance constructing robustly in an exposed northern climate and the presentation of a style that was at the heart of a European cultural experience. That experience understood the construction process would only be considered complete when walls were coated, providing protection, and cultivated aesthetic. That duality of purpose meant the two were inseparable and given the climate changes we face now, we might reconsider the bare stone paradigm on which the conservation industry is predicated. The thesis questions an underlying baseline: the adherence to the concepts of Truth, Honesty and Conserve as Found. These are concepts founded, not on rigorous enquiry but on the nineteenth century predilections of Romanticism and religiosity, positions that stifle serious enquiry. In the absence of previous studies, the fieldwork establishes a spatial and temporal framework for covering walls in Scotland and illustrates the nuanced detailing that rendered buildings seamless. It maps the changes in attitudes to covering stone and building morphology initiated during the period of the Long Eighteenth Century, a period associated with the Enlightenment. While recognising the positivity of the period, it also highlights the structural flaws in a key area: the window, an area that illuminated the interior and gave access to the landscape without having to be physically present within it. Narrower wall widths under the sill in combination with a desire to express Taste and Politeness through the medium of bare stone are demonstrably unequal to the force of wind driven rain and external – internal pressure differences. Lime coats, in contrast are shown to be able to moderate water inundation effectively. Demonstrating the relationship between presentation and functionality provides the heritage industry with an evidence based approach to changes in conservation practice.