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RCAHMS

The Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) has been surveying and recording the built environment of Scotland for the past 100 years.

In 2007, it organised 'Telford in the Highlands', a schools project aimed at celebrating both Scotland's Year of Highland Culture and the 250th anniversary of the birth of the great Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford. This was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Highland 2007, and involved a programme of education workshops at four Highland secondary schools in areas which have a local connection to Telford's work (Alness, Dornoch, Ullapool and Lochaber).

It also involved the production of a touring exhibition based on RCAHMS archive material relating to Telford and the pupil's work from the education workshops. What you can see here are examples of RCAHMS archive material, images of the pupils engaged in workshop activity and illustrations of the finished exhibition.

You can find out more about our work by going to the website at www.rcahms.gov.uk.

Ar pròiseactan

• Telford in the Highlands : ALNESS

  The Telford workshop at Alness Academy looked at the Telford bridge in the town (which is still in day-to-day use) and investigated the social and architectural changes which have happened in the town since Telford built the bridge in 1810. Pupils mapped buildings in the town which have survived from the nineteenth century and before, and also mapped the main changes which have happened in the town since then to buildings and to transportation links.

• Telford in the Highlands : DORNOCH

  The Telford workshop at Dornoch Academy focused on the areas on Transport and Tourism. Pupils visited the Fleet Mound (an embankment and roadway built by Telford across the mouth of Loch Fleet, north of Dornoch, between 1814-1816) and Croick Church (one of a number of 'Parliamentary Churches' built by Telford across the Highlands and the site of a poignant testament to the effect of the Highland Clearances in nearby Gelncalvie in 1845). They then worked on proposals to improve transport links and promote tourism in the area and developed these into presentations.

• Telford in the Highlands : LOCHABER

  The Lochaber workshop at Fort William High School focused on transport changes in and around the Fort William area. Pupils visited 'Neptune's Staircase' at Banavie, part of the Caledonian Canal, which was built by Telford between 1803 and 1822. Pupils assessed the current transport links in the area, and changes which had happened since Telford's time, developed presentations on the advantages and disadvantages of specific transport modes and suggested changes which could be made to improve transport in the area.

• Telford in the Highlands : Ullapool

  The workshop at Ullapool High School focused on changing land and building use in the town. One group of pupils concentrated on 'Changing Ullapool', looking at changes in the town's planned layout since Telford's time as consultant to the British Fisheries Society in the early 1800's. Another group focused on 'Structures', looking at bridges and churches, including the original Telford Parliamentary church in the town (now Ullapool museum). The first group of pupils developed presentations describing the changes in land and building use which have taken place and looking forward to those which might happen in the future. The second group developed propsals for a new brideg in the town and for an imaginary redesign of a church interior for the ideal museum space.

• The 'Telford in the Highlands' Exhibition

  The first part of the 'Telford in the Highlands' exhibition explained RCAHMS' work and illustrated the range of material we hold on Telford and his achievement in opening up the Highlands in the nineteenth century. The second part showcased the output of the education workshops held at the four schools in Spring and Autumn 2007.