Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has announced (Monday 24 February) conservation works have begun at Caerlaverock Castle.

The works involved include installing scaffolding to allow access for fabric inspection and repair work to the staircase and north west tower of the 13th century castle. This follows recent masonry consolidation works to the chimneys.

These inspection works also follow on from the High-Level Masonry project which was looking at the impact of climate change on historic sites with masonry over 1.5 metres as well as the scale of deterioration caused by a number of other factors, including the materials used in the building’s construction, its age and physical location. Whilst this is not an issue unique to Scotland, HES is believed to be amongst the first heritage managers to approach it in this way.

While these essential conservation works are taking place, access to the interior of the castle will be restricted. However, visitors can access the grounds and playparks as well as the visitor centre and exhibition free-of-charge. Activities are also being developed for visitors to take part in including cyanotype photography, paper crafting, and a display of archive photographs.

For full information please see here.