The Scottish Highlands and Islands issue of Context offers distinct takes on architectural research in rural areas north and south of the Scottish borders, with insights from each that can promote critical takes – personal and collective – on principles and priorities for the discipline as a tool in conservation.
Andrew Millar offers a fascinating tour of Highland manse research and Jane Houlton tells us of some of the perils of architectural research through the lens of a case study of Fountaine Hospital in the Yorkshire Dales.
Andrew reports on a personal task to research the development of manses, following living in an arts-and-crafts style home in South Lanarkshire.
Jane Houlton explains how the initial research into Fountaine Hospital has touched on institutional archives, family wills, social history records and biographies, yet not yielded a conclusive result on the architectural history of the property.
Jane reflects on ‘what lessons would the budding architectural historian take from this? Apart, of course, from having the good sense not to take on a building where no primary sources exist.’
CPD Boost:
Why not review with colleagues the options and principles for conservation of extrapolating heritage values from buildings with limited historical resources?
View more information on the Dictionary of Scottish Architects website
View the Context article on manses
View the Context article on Fountaine Hospital
See more IHBC background and guidance on CPD and on how you might use Context.
See the institute’s formal guidance paper on IHBC CPD (scheduled for update)
See more on the IHBC competences
