Glasgow’s oldest house £1m makeover explained: Why is the Provand’s Lordship now coated in roughcast?

What is the Provand’s Lordship?

The Provand’s Lordship is one of Glasgow’s oldest buildings, and the oldest home in the city. It was built in 1471 - making it one of only four surviving medieval buildings in Glasgow.

The “auld hoose”, as it is also called, is furnished with a fine selection of 17th-century historic furniture and royal portraits.

Why was the Provand’s Lordship closed?

One million pounds of capital funding from Glasgow City Council was invested in restoration and preservation work last year in 2022. This included repairs to the roof, chimneys, and down pipes - alongisde treatment to stop and prevent damp from creeping in. Structural improvements and replacement windows and doors were also provided.

Why is the Provand’s Lordship covered in roughcast?

Most noticeable amongst the new refurbishments, a new lime harling render (roughcast) to the outside of the building, which will ‘better preserve the fabric of the building’ and ‘return it to an authentic 15th century appearance’.

Roughcast, or lime harling render, is the most common type of traditional surface finish found in Scotland on masonry buildings of solid wall construction. Pror to the Victorian era it was popular - although Glaswegians of the 19th century grew a distate for the finish, instead prefering the underlying solid brick wall. The vast majority of pre-Victorian era buildings constructed of rubble stone, certainly in Scotland, were generally roughcast externally.

Modern roughcasting is much thicker than traditional roughcasting, as prior to advancements in technology, the pebbles were thrown directly onto the wall resulting in roughcast about 10mm in thickness compared to the much thicker cast-on roughcast we see today.

The principle purpose of roughcasting is to keep the building dry - and it is very effective at doing so. Believe it or not roughcasting was also ornamental prior to the Victorian era, in which the perception shifted to the roughcast being used to mask and hide cracks or imperfections in the stonework underneath.

When did the Provand’s Lordship close?

The Provand’s Lordship closed for repairs last year, July 2022, after which scaffolding was put up around the old building.

When will the Provand’s Lordship reopen?

The Provand’s Lordship has now seen the scaffolding removed from the building - but more works need to be done as well as the return of the museums artefacts - so the expected opening date is Spring 2023, a delay from their original planned reopening in Summer 2023.