Heritage bodies are using lasers as part of a plan to preserve a plaster ceiling at Kellie Castle in Fife.
The castle dates back to since the 1300s and underwent a major restoration in the 19th century.
Its library is home to what is thought to be Scotland’s oldest surviving decorative plaster ceiling, commissioned ahead of a royal visit from King James the VI of Scotland and I of England in 1617.
The property is now under the stewardship of the National Trust for Scotland, who have teamed up with Historic Environment Scotland to use highly accurate lasers to map every millimetre of the ceiling.
Historic Environment Scotland’s senior digital innovation officer Sophia Mirashrafi said they’re using state of the art technology in a new way.
STV NewsPlaster ceiling at Kellie Castle dates back to 1300s STV News
She told STV News: “Treating the ceiling as artefact when you’re scanning is really interesting because you have to get it from every angle.
“Scanning works through line of sight, so looking up and trying to see each of the protrusions of the ceiling is important to capture.
“So that’s been a real challenge for us and really rewarding when we look at the results of something that is actually really difficult to capture.”
For every day the team spend photographing the ceilings at Kellie Castle, it takes a week to produce highly detailed images.
They’re used by conservationists to monitor and manage any structural damage to the historic houses.
The teams have used the photographs to create 3D prints which will allow members of the public and other heritage bodies the chance to see the detail of the decorative ceiling.
Bryan Dickson from the National Trust for Scotland said: “What we’ve applied with our innovation here is a different mechanism to understand the ceilings, to look at the symbolism within the ceilings with the different medallions, and share that as a resource.
“It also allows us in a new an innovative way to fly through these objects.
“A lot of the buildings that had similar ceilings have been lost through time or maybe changed significantly.
“Fashions change, so certain styles of architectural finishes lose favour, so they change through time.
“Kellie’s remained as it is, which is what makes it really really special and it’s been untouched for that period of time.”
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