Historic Scotland brings medieval construction to Glasgow Science Festival

Historic Scotland is joining forces with Glasgow Science Festival for the first time to present the past, present and future of construction at this year’s Glasgow Science Festival. 

On Sunday 12th June, families can come along to Glasgow Cathedral and St Mungo’s Museum to take part in a range of free activities that highlight the science and technology behind medieval and modern engineering, from tower building to renewable energy.  The event starts at 11am and runs until 4pm.

The Medieval Engineering Family Day will feature Historic Scotland’s Medieval Construction Science Show – an interactive show which tells the journey of a block of stone from quarry to cathedral arch and involves audience participation.  Other activities will include tours of the Cathedral,  building challenges and medieval object handling.  Highlights will include a chance to meet Historic Scotland stonemasons who will be on hand to demonstrate their craft and a medieval mason who will show the tools used to build the Cathedral hundreds of years ago.

Fiona Davidson, Education Officer at Historic Scotland said: ‘‘This is an exciting opportunity for Historic Scotland to partner with Glasgow Science Festival to present the historic side of engineering and attract a new audience to the Science Festival.

“We are looking forward to showing the important role Historic Scotland plays in the conservation and preservation of historic buildings.  We have a wealth of beautiful historic buildings in Scotland which are a key part of our heritage and history and it is vital that we preserve them for future generations to enjoy.”

Debbie McNeill, Glasgow Science Festival’s Programme Manager added:  “It is great to have Historic Scotland participating in this year’s Glasgow Science Festival.  They bring an unusual dimension to the event by presenting the ‘historic’ side of science and technology which we hope will attract even more people along to the programme of events on offer.”