The Past Ubiquity and Environment of the Lost Earth Buildings of Scotland

Simon J Parkin,W Paul Adderley

doi:10.1007/s10745-017-9931-4

Abstract

This paper investigates the once ubiquitous vernacular earth-built structures of Scotland and how perceptions of such buildings were shaped and developed through periods of intense cultural and environmental change. We focus upon the past exploitation of traditional resources to construct vernacular architectures and on changes in the perception of the resultant buildings. Historic earth-built structures are today deeply hidden within the landscapes of Scotland, although they were once a common feature of both urban and rural settlements. Whilst the eighteenth and nineteenth century period of Improvement – during which many of these structures were destroyed, repurposed, or left to decay – has received extensive attention by historians, there exists no previous serious study of the human and environmental dimensions. Through analysis of the material aspects of landscape resource use and analysis of the historical perceptions of such use, we emphasize the national significance of this undervalued aspect of Scotland’s built and cultural heritage, increasingly at risk of being lost completely, highlighting the prior ubiquity of mudwall structures.

Highlights

Earthen materials - soil, unfired clay, and turf - have been used in a variety of ways and in conjunction with numerous other materials for millennia in the construction of vernacular buildings throughout Europe
The collection of poetry and prose in the latter emphasizes the synonymy of Burns’ egalitarian views with his first home, which was typical of the ‘common man.’. Using both documentary and archaeological evidence the perspectives we present here emphasize the medieval ancestry of Scotland’s surviving eighteenth and nineteenth century mudwall dwellings
Vernacular mudwall structures were ubiquitous in Scottish landscapes for centuries

Summary

Introduction

Earthen materials - soil, unfired clay, and turf - have been used in a variety of ways and in conjunction with numerous other materials for millennia in the construction of vernacular buildings throughout Europe.

Results

Conclusion