Stirling Castle

To carry out an accurate historic reconstruction the Carpenter Oak team were provided with a detailed Victorian survey and 18th century drawings, plus they could draw inspiration from the roof of the Great Hall at Edinburgh Castle, which had been built at a similar time.

The team were also given details of a survey on the Hall, which revealed the west wall was bowing outward, creating a curve, so that every truss built had to match the curve, and every joint altered to also match.

To build the 57 trusses which would span this huge space, a total of 350 oak trees were felled in a Perthshire forest. The team spent five months handcrafting the frame, and when completed the five truckloads of timber were transported to Stirling town hall where they were sandblasted and pressure washed.

The timbers were then carefully transferred up the Castle, ready for installation. Working on an elevated scaffolding deck, the team spent 10 weeks getting all 57 trusses installed – totalling 1328 pieces of timber!

We’re very proud of the part we played in helping to reconstruct Stirling Castle and continue to seek out conservation projects where our expertise and knowledge in traditional timber framing can help to protect and revive historic monuments across the UK.