Stirling Castle Palace Project
In 2011 the Stirling Castle Palace Project was completed. The splendidly-recreated interiors are the outcome of almost a decade of research and John is proud to have been a part of the team. He was commissioned by Historic Scotland to write the official book about the project and the new interiors; John G. Harrison, Rebirth of A Palace: The Royal Court at Stirling (Historic Scotland, 2011) – available only via Historic Scotland shops. Contact John at [email protected] 
Stirling Castle from the nearby King's Knot
The Queen's Outer Hall of the Palace as recreated by the project
Copious documentation confirmed that the main fuel in the palace in the 1530s was coal; so grates and fire-irons are for coal, not wood.
Entry in the accounts (in French) recording nine and a half barrels of coal for the royal household.
Ben Lawers Historic Landscape Project
This major, national programme was conducted over several seasons in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It aimed to bring together archaeological, historical and environmental evidence for this important area and John was delighted to be a part of the team. Publication has been a protracted business but the final report is now available to download FREE at http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/sair/contents.cfm?vol=62 And can be cited as John A Atkinson With Chris Dalglish, Nicholas T Dixon, Michael Donnelly, John G Harrison, Olivia Lelong and Gavin MacGregor (2016) BEN LAWERS: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE IN TIME Results from the Ben Lawers Historic Landscape Project, 1996–2005, Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports 62. |
Rowallan Castle
Archaeological work on Rowallan Castle in Ayrshire had proceeded over many years when John was commissioned to look at the documentary evidence. Working with Kirkdale Archaeology he was able to produce a Report looking at the buildings but also at the grounds of the castle and the wider landscape holdings which had supported it and the families (particularly the Muirs) who had owned it. Archaeological and documentary results were published as: Gordon Ewart and Dennis Gallagher, A Palace Fit For A Laird; Rowallan Castle, Archaeology and Research, 1998-2008, Historic Scotland, Edinburgh. In the late 1990s the Royal Commission were engaged in a survey of Menstrie Glen, in the Ochils. John, meanwhile, was aware of the vast quantity of archival information about the area, much of it in the Wright of Loss collection in the National Archives of Scotland (NAS RH15/115). Collaboration brought together the survey and documentary evidence to make Menstrie Glen arguably the best-understood landscape in Scotland.
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, 2001. “Well shelterd & watered": Menstrie Glen, a farming landscape near Stirling, Edinburgh. 
Bannockburn
In the lead-up to the 700th Anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, John was busily engaged, with Dr Richard Tipping from Stirling University and others on research into the landscapes across which the battle was fought.
The composition of the team means that, rightly but for the first time, some scientific rigour can be brought to the questions raised. One of the outputs is a chapter in a book, the 'proceedings' of a conference held in 2014; Richard Tipping, Aden Beresford, Gordon Cook, Derek Hamilton, John G. Harrison, Jason Jordan, Paul Ledger, Dmitri Mauquoy, John McArthur, Stuart Morrison, Danny Paterson, Nicola Russell and David Smith, 2016. 'Landscape Dynamics and Climate Change as Agents at the Battle of Bannockburn' 111-128, in M. Penman (ed) 2016, Bannockburn, 1314-2014: Battle & Legacy, Proceedings of the 2014 Stirling Conference, Shaun Tyas, Donington. And (finally) two more detailed papers were published: Richard Tipping, Gordon Cook, Derek Hamilton, John G Harrison, Jason Jordan, Danny Paterson & David E. Smith (2022) The terrain around Stirling at the battle of Bannockburn 1314: combined scientific and documentary approaches to reconstruction. I. The ‘low road’, Journal of Conflict Archaeology, DOI: 10.1080/15740773.2022.2106809 Richard Tipping, John G Harrison, Danny Paterson, Gordon Cook & Derek Hamilton (2022) The terrain around Stirling at the Battle of Bannockburn 1314: combined scientific and documentary approaches to reconstruction. II. The ‘High Road’, Journal of Conflict Archaeology, DOI: 10.1080/15740773.2022.2106810 |
Farming in the Stirling Area 1560-1750
Some years ago, I was asked to contribute a chapter in a new book about Scottish agricultural history, the first overview for a good many years. It took a long time to get from ‘good idea’ to published book but a real book has now arrived in my porch.
John G Harrison, 2024. ‘Farming in the Stirling Area 1560-1750’, p. 176-198, in Agriculture, Economy and Society in Early Modern Scotland, edited by Cornell, H., Goodare, J., and MacDonald, A. R., Boydell Press, Woodbridge.
The other authors include T.C. Smout, Rab Houston, Julian Goodare and other well-known names. The contributions range from broad brush to detailed surveys as befits a study of such an important topic.
https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781837650484/agriculture-economy-and-society-in-early-modern-scotland/
Some years ago, I was asked to contribute a chapter in a new book about Scottish agricultural history, the first overview for a good many years. It took a long time to get from ‘good idea’ to published book but a real book has now arrived in my porch.
John G Harrison, 2024. ‘Farming in the Stirling Area 1560-1750’, p. 176-198, in Agriculture, Economy and Society in Early Modern Scotland, edited by Cornell, H., Goodare, J., and MacDonald, A. R., Boydell Press, Woodbridge.
The other authors include T.C. Smout, Rab Houston, Julian Goodare and other well-known names. The contributions range from broad brush to detailed surveys as befits a study of such an important topic.
https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781837650484/agriculture-economy-and-society-in-early-modern-scotland/