Scotch Baronial

Architecture and National Identity in Scotland

By: Miles Glendinning, Mr Aonghus MacKechnie

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eBook | 10 January 2019

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As the debate about Scottish independence rages on, this book takes a timely look at how Scotland's politics have been expressed in its buildings, exploring how the architecture of Scotland – in particular the constantly-changing ideal of the 'castle' – has been of great consequence to the ongoing narrative of Scottish national identity.

Scotch Baronial provides a politically-framed examination of Scotland's kaleidoscopic 'castle architecture', tracing how it was used to serve successive political agendas both prior to and during the three 'unionist centuries' from the early 17th century to the 20th century.

The book encompasses many of the country's most important historic buildings – from the palaces left behind by the 'lost' monarchy, to revivalist castles and the proud town halls of the Victorian age – examining their architectural styles and tracing their wildly fluctuating political and national connotations. It ends by bringing the story into the 21st century, exploring how contemporary 'neo-modernist' architecture in today's Scotland, as exemplified in the Holyrood parliament, relates to concepts of national identity in architecture over the previous centuries.

About the Authors

Miles Glendinning is Professor of Architectural Conservation at the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of Edinburgh, UK. Aonghus MacKechnie is an architectural historian and Head of Heritage Management at Historic Scotland. Together, they have co-authored numerous books including A History of Scottish Architecture (1996, co-authored with Ranald MacInnes), and Scottish Architecture (2004).over the previous centuries.

Industry Reviews

“An ambitious and wide-ranging but closely argued and well referenced account of the complex interplay, over more than eight centuries, between castellated architecture in its original and revival forms and changing concepts of national identity in Scotland ... The authors are to be congratulated on maintaining an appropriate balance and pace across such a broad chronological span and such an intricately interwoven set of themes.”
The Castle Studies Group

“It is always a pleasure to pick up an elegantly written book, which wears its research lightly, yet doesn't skimp on scholarship.”
Innes Review