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#museumsunlocked Some #Castles& #39; fab old woods in #Scotland. First Caerlaverock Castle Wood studied for @HistEnvScot-complex medieval enclosures round both castles engulfed by trees now but mosaic of woodbanks & fields from 13thC, wider enclosure, planting & management from c1600
Another complex historic wooded landscape studied for @HistEnvScot, this time Doune Castle -remnants of the medieval Wood of Doune survive mainly as earthworks, but tree planting & landscape works on estate continued well after Castle& #39;s occupation ended #MuseumsUnlocked #Castles
Kilchurn Castle& #39;s historic wooded landscape at Loch Awe has many facets #MuseumsUnlocked #Castles: part designed landscape in eg18thC beech plantations, part working woods in old oak coppices for charcoal & tanbark production, wood pastures, even discovered the earls& #39; 17thC park!
Drum Castle @NTS_archaeology another complex old wooded landscape with medieval park origins #MuseumsUnlocked #Castles. Lovely oaks in Old Wood of Drum but dendro showed they are 18thC replanting, some of their predecessors ended up in Drum& #39;s mansion house roofs in early 17thC
These woods at Scottish #Castles hopefully illustrate importance of looking after living landscape archaeology along with iconic historic buildings. Such sites also harbour our oldest living trees, rich in biodiversity & tree-ring records! Closing with Lochwood #MuseumsUnlocked
