There’s an atmosphere of intensity in Stirling Castle, a feeling of focus and hurry. A boy scrubs white flagstones, a woman arranges damask hangings, a trio of female courtiers in bejewelled gowns gasp in admiration as they walk into a room freshly hung with fine tapestries. Preparations for grand events are afoot.
This isn’t a vision from the past, or even a piece of dramatic re-enactment. It’s a team of Historic Scotland conservators, technicians and interpreters putting the finishing touches to a £12m revamp of the castle’s Renaissance palace, which officially reopened early last month.
It is one of 345 properties and sites that Historic Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish government, has responsibility for. Stirling is the ancient capital of Scotland, but it tends to be overlooked by visitors seeking more obvious cultural and historic attractions in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Historic Scotland, however, has made an extraordinary commitment to Stirling Castle over the past three decades. It has reversed alterations made during two centuries of use as an army barracks and has resurrected the magnificent buildings of the Stuart kings – the Chapel Royal, the Great Hall, and James V’s magnificent palace – with modern interpretations of their former glory.
Historic Scotland’s head of interpretation, Lorna Ewan, describes the work done at Stirling as a “re-presentation” rather than a restoration, as so little of the internal structures survived. Apart from ornate fireplaces and carved door surrounds in each of the main rooms (which have been left well alone) the project team were given a temptingly blank canvas.
The 2011 interpretation suggests that we are seeing the palace in the 1540s in all its newly completed splendour – the paintwork is bright, the oak furniture pale gold and gilded, the tapestries glittering.
Political statement
James V died before the palace was finished so the first room we enter, his presence chamber, is empty. This allows attention to focus on the masterwork of the palace project, the re-creation of the Stirling Heads ceiling – a series of Renaissance sculptures that includes images of classical heroes, monarchs and courtiers.
They take the form of handcarved, large oak medallions, or roundels. The original ceiling collapsed in the 18th century and the roundels were dispersed among collectors.
A five-year project has seen oak replicas carved by craftsman John Donaldson and fitted to a new ceiling. It’s an artwork and a political statement that still resonates. Historic Scotland calls the heads “Image Makers for the King” and their message is clear – James V was choosing to place himself and Scotland alongside the great names of European history and culture.
Access difficulties – the palace lies on a sloping site and its three main entrances are narrow or hampered by stairs – mean that it hasn’t been possible to use the original circulation routes through the king’s and queen’s lodgings.
Originally the six rooms operated as two sets of three, with courtiers progressing through the increasingly luxurious guard hall, presence chamber and bed chamber according to their rank or intimacy with the royals.
We now enter the king’s presence chamber first and then view the queen’s rooms in reverse order. It’s a missed opportunity, dictated by visitor flow and fire regulations, not to let visitors naturally absorb the growing sense of awe and privilege that the decorative scheme creates. This is, after all, the raison d’être of the layout of the palace as a whole.
Within the rooms there are a variety of ways to learn more about royal life and the building itself. Originally the palace would have told its own story – classical sculpture, coats of arms and tapestries would all have been full of meaning to the urbane, educated visitors to court. Most of these messages are obscure today, as are the daily routines of the 16th-century nobility.
Costumed interpreters
A new, permanent team of costumed interpreters are ready to take up the task of explaining it all. Ambassadors will visit, ladies will dress, jesters will jape and the audience will crane and strain to pick up all the details of a really genuine interaction with the characters. The castle stewards also have a role to play with their regular guided tours.
The written word barely intrudes in the overall scheme – each room has a simple metal stand with a couple of sentences outlining the function of each room and the track number of the new audioguide.
It might be easy to overlook the original features of the Royal Lodgings within the palace, but a different tone is set in the rooms of the Upper West Gallery. Here, the real, surviving, Stirling Heads have been gathered together for the first time since their dispersal.
The entry to the gallery is painted a deep, calming blue and a series of graphic panels introduce James V, his family and his court in simple terms. There’s a gentle diminution in light levels along the entry corridor for conservation reasons, but it also acts an antidote to the riot of colour and texture downstairs. It’s a fitting introduction to the more subtle attractions of the Stirling Heads, stripped of their paint and worn with time.
Each is accompanied by a single illustration – a masque costume, a portrait of the king, a motif from a design book which, without trying too hard, place the palace art in a British and European context.
There are accompanying touchscreens and interactives to allow more in-depth or family-orientated investigations of the subject, and an audiovisual display describing the sculptural elements of the building’s exterior.
The vaults beneath the palace have been converted for family and education use with the usual variety of interactives to press, colour, strum and dress up in. There is also an access gallery, designed in conjunction with local and national disability groups.
One of the Stirling Heads is displayed here – the upper gallery being inaccessible to those who can’t manage stairs – and there are a range of deliveries of audiovisual, interactive and tactile material.
The structure of the palace building has prevented the kind of fully accessible spaces one would aspire to, but the room has been designed with vigour and enthusiasm and doesn’t come across as “space apart”.
The Stirling Castle project has been an ongoing enterprise of quality and depth. The completion of the palace is the culmination of a decade’s work by archaeologists, stonemasons, carpenters, carvers, weavers, all supported by robust research.
We can’t know exactly how accurate the result is, nor can we tell how this interpretation will be viewed in the future. We have, however, had a set of magnificent spaces restored to the Scottish and European cultural landscape.
Emily Malcolm is a curator, transport and technology, at Glasgow Museums
This isn’t a vision from the past, or even a piece of dramatic re-enactment. It’s a team of Historic Scotland conservators, technicians and interpreters putting the finishing touches to a £12m revamp of the castle’s Renaissance palace, which officially reopened early last month.
It is one of 345 properties and sites that Historic Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish government, has responsibility for. Stirling is the ancient capital of Scotland, but it tends to be overlooked by visitors seeking more obvious cultural and historic attractions in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Historic Scotland, however, has made an extraordinary commitment to Stirling Castle over the past three decades. It has reversed alterations made during two centuries of use as an army barracks and has resurrected the magnificent buildings of the Stuart kings – the Chapel Royal, the Great Hall, and James V’s magnificent palace – with modern interpretations of their former glory.
Historic Scotland’s head of interpretation, Lorna Ewan, describes the work done at Stirling as a “re-presentation” rather than a restoration, as so little of the internal structures survived. Apart from ornate fireplaces and carved door surrounds in each of the main rooms (which have been left well alone) the project team were given a temptingly blank canvas.
The 2011 interpretation suggests that we are seeing the palace in the 1540s in all its newly completed splendour – the paintwork is bright, the oak furniture pale gold and gilded, the tapestries glittering.
Political statement
James V died before the palace was finished so the first room we enter, his presence chamber, is empty. This allows attention to focus on the masterwork of the palace project, the re-creation of the Stirling Heads ceiling – a series of Renaissance sculptures that includes images of classical heroes, monarchs and courtiers.
They take the form of handcarved, large oak medallions, or roundels. The original ceiling collapsed in the 18th century and the roundels were dispersed among collectors.
A five-year project has seen oak replicas carved by craftsman John Donaldson and fitted to a new ceiling. It’s an artwork and a political statement that still resonates. Historic Scotland calls the heads “Image Makers for the King” and their message is clear – James V was choosing to place himself and Scotland alongside the great names of European history and culture.
Access difficulties – the palace lies on a sloping site and its three main entrances are narrow or hampered by stairs – mean that it hasn’t been possible to use the original circulation routes through the king’s and queen’s lodgings.
Originally the six rooms operated as two sets of three, with courtiers progressing through the increasingly luxurious guard hall, presence chamber and bed chamber according to their rank or intimacy with the royals.
We now enter the king’s presence chamber first and then view the queen’s rooms in reverse order. It’s a missed opportunity, dictated by visitor flow and fire regulations, not to let visitors naturally absorb the growing sense of awe and privilege that the decorative scheme creates. This is, after all, the raison d’être of the layout of the palace as a whole.
Within the rooms there are a variety of ways to learn more about royal life and the building itself. Originally the palace would have told its own story – classical sculpture, coats of arms and tapestries would all have been full of meaning to the urbane, educated visitors to court. Most of these messages are obscure today, as are the daily routines of the 16th-century nobility.
Costumed interpreters
A new, permanent team of costumed interpreters are ready to take up the task of explaining it all. Ambassadors will visit, ladies will dress, jesters will jape and the audience will crane and strain to pick up all the details of a really genuine interaction with the characters. The castle stewards also have a role to play with their regular guided tours.
The written word barely intrudes in the overall scheme – each room has a simple metal stand with a couple of sentences outlining the function of each room and the track number of the new audioguide.
It might be easy to overlook the original features of the Royal Lodgings within the palace, but a different tone is set in the rooms of the Upper West Gallery. Here, the real, surviving, Stirling Heads have been gathered together for the first time since their dispersal.
The entry to the gallery is painted a deep, calming blue and a series of graphic panels introduce James V, his family and his court in simple terms. There’s a gentle diminution in light levels along the entry corridor for conservation reasons, but it also acts an antidote to the riot of colour and texture downstairs. It’s a fitting introduction to the more subtle attractions of the Stirling Heads, stripped of their paint and worn with time.
Each is accompanied by a single illustration – a masque costume, a portrait of the king, a motif from a design book which, without trying too hard, place the palace art in a British and European context.
There are accompanying touchscreens and interactives to allow more in-depth or family-orientated investigations of the subject, and an audiovisual display describing the sculptural elements of the building’s exterior.
The vaults beneath the palace have been converted for family and education use with the usual variety of interactives to press, colour, strum and dress up in. There is also an access gallery, designed in conjunction with local and national disability groups.
One of the Stirling Heads is displayed here – the upper gallery being inaccessible to those who can’t manage stairs – and there are a range of deliveries of audiovisual, interactive and tactile material.
The structure of the palace building has prevented the kind of fully accessible spaces one would aspire to, but the room has been designed with vigour and enthusiasm and doesn’t come across as “space apart”.
The Stirling Castle project has been an ongoing enterprise of quality and depth. The completion of the palace is the culmination of a decade’s work by archaeologists, stonemasons, carpenters, carvers, weavers, all supported by robust research.
We can’t know exactly how accurate the result is, nor can we tell how this interpretation will be viewed in the future. We have, however, had a set of magnificent spaces restored to the Scottish and European cultural landscape.
Emily Malcolm is a curator, transport and technology, at Glasgow Museums
Project data
- Cost £12m
- Main funders Historic Scotland £9m; Scottish government £3m
- Exhibition design Studioarc
- Audiovisuals Derek Kemp Associates; Centre Screen; Spiral
- Original artwork Robert Nelmes
- Interactives Studioarc
- Display cases Click Netherfield
- Lighting design Light Medium; Fotoma
- Fit-out contractor ESP Scotland
- Graphic production Leach Colour
- Publications graphic design Contagious UK
- Costumed interpretation team Anna Visscher
- Audioguide Antenna International
