Scotland's historic buildings at risk from climate change

The 5,000 year old village of Skara Brae on Orkney is among the iconic heritage sites at risk from climate change. Picture: Jane Barolow

The inaugural Global Challenges in Cultural Heritage Conference will take place at the University of Stirling on 1-2 September.

Among the speakers will be Historic Environment Scotland’s head of science and technical research, Ewan Hyslop, who will discuss how climate change impacts on cultural heritage as well as explaining how the organisation is working to protect its estate.

Experts will also debate how unpredictable weather patterns across the globe are threatening prehistoric rock art, medieval ruins and sculptured stones.

Wetter winters and warmer summers are viewed as a serious threat to Scotland’s historic buildings, with disintegrating stonework and decaying timbers among common problems.

Heritage experts have previously warned that increasing levels of rainfall - up 20 per cent in the last 50 years - pose a serious threat to the fabric of older structures.

A 2016 survey found that nearly three quarters of buildings in Edinburgh’s Old Town thoroughfares were in need of repair alone.

The conference, held as part of the Scottish Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, will also celebrate the recently-formed partnership between Stirling University, The Palace Museum in Beijing and Historic Environment Scotland (HES).

Professor Richard Oram, dean of the university’s faculty of arts and humanities, said: “Cultural heritage faces many challenges, many of which are replicated across the world. While local circumstances may vary, there are opportunities to share knowledge and experiences, and to collaborate in finding solutions to these global problems.

“It is particularly fitting that the inaugural conference is being hosted here in the Stirling area – a pivotal location in Scotland’s past and itself a prominent historical site.”