A MAJOR conservation project is about to get under way to protect and future-proof the famous pink exterior of Craigievar Castle in Aberdeenshire against damage from rain and wider climate change.
It follows a painstaking three-month build of scaffolding which, when laid end to end, stretches three times the length of Edinburgh’s Princes Street or Aberdeen’s Union Street.
The iconic pink building – which is said to have inspired Walt Disney’s Cinderella Castle – will also be donning a free-standing seven-storey pink protective mesh for the coming months. This will provide protection while restoration of the pink harling is carried out.
The project at Craigievar will contribute to the National Trust for Scotland’s conservation and sustainability ambitions, outlined in its 10-year Nature, Beauty and Heritage for Everyone strategy.
The repairs and future-proofing works will support the trust’s strategic objective to stabilise and improve the condition of its estates, as well as help to combat the current and future impact of climate change on Scotland’s heritage.
The conservation works will reinvigorate the pink tones of Craigievar’s walls with multiple coats of a special recipe of limewash.
Also included in the repairs, which are expected to take 12 months to complete, are masonry restoration, roof work, maintenance to interior plasterwork and conservation of the lower enclosing (or “barmkin”) wall.
The castle’s grounds will remain open during the work. Craigievar’s harling was successfully replaced in 2009 but the impact of changing weather patterns mean additional work is needed to ensure the building can withstand the increasingly wet and extreme weather being experienced.
A “Pink Again” fundraising campaign has been launched. See here for more information.
