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#museumsunlocked Some #Castles' 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's occupation ended #MuseumsUnlocked #Castles
Kilchurn Castle'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' 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'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
