Photos

Built in 1620 as the administrative centre for the Royal Burgh of Dunbar, the Town House is currently undergoing restoration. Last week the wraps were taken off the exterior, and now we can see the building looking as it did back then in the 17th century, its local Old Red Sandstone covered in 'sacrificial' lime harl. In 1913 the original coating, and many subsequent layers, were removed because people thought it more romantic and historically interesting to see the red rubble walls. They did not realise that the stone would be rapidly eroded by
winds from the sea.

In contrast to cement-based renders, lime harl breathes; it absorbs moisture and gradually lets it re-evaporate, protecting the soft stone beneath. Three coats have been applied, and for each the harl was closely covered to ensure it dried slowly over several days. The lime interacts with light in a lively manner. The apparent colour seems to depend on how the light falls on it, and on the colour of the sky behind. An hour after I took this shot there was a dark cloud in the sky and the harl had a pronounced pink tinge; it can look white in the morning sun.

The spire is pentagonal, so it appears very lopsided from some perspectives! The clocks are 19th century. The numbers on the sundial are Roman numerals. See Workshop.

Decorative details such as the corbelled string courses are typical of the distinctive Scottish Renaissance architecture of the 16th and 17th centuries (utterly different from the contemporary Jacobean style in England). Scots nobles no longer needed castles for defence, and built new dwellings designed by architects who incorporated castle-like features as status symbols. The common arrangement was a smooth harled plinth contrasting with exuberant corbels, dormer windows, crowsteps and false gun-slits at the higher levels. A good illustration of this on Trek Earth is Dougie's photo of the west facade at Crichton which was built in 1581 as an extension to the old keep. Sadly, as in hundreds of other places, the harl there was not maintained and the stone decayed. But many magnificent buildings did survive and are now tourist attractions.

Not all Dunbar's residents are happy about the result of our Town House restoration. "It looks too modern," according to a teenager who served me in one of the High Street shops.

Architectural
description.

14 Mar 2009
Alastair has now followed up his WS with an
identical view which shows the texture of the harl.