Icon is working alongside Historic Environment Scotland (HES) and partners to develop a new register highlighting the traditional building and heritage skills most at risk of dying out. The Heritage Skills at Risk Register will allow identification, assessment and classification of skills such as traditional stained and leaded glass making, thatching, architectural blacksmithing, and stonemasonry.
Due to the urgent need to retrofit historic buildings to help meet national net zero targets, demand for traditional heritage skills is growing rapidly. However, due to a lack of training opportunities for people looking to learn these skills, and a lower awareness about them being seen as viable career options.
Concerning statistics show that, currently, in Scotland, there are only 5 Icon-registered stained glass conservators, fewer than 10 trained thatchers, 20 architectural blacksmiths with traditional forge skills, and fewer that 300 stonemasons.
Aims of the Heritage Skills at Risk Register
Through the development of the Heritage Skills at Risk Register, Icon and HES aim to identify the skills most at risk, and start a national conversation about the issue. This register follows in the footsteps of the UK-wide initiative to identify and track endangered skills through the Heritage Crafts Red List, and will look to quantify the practitioners working in Scotland responsible for the built environment.
It comes as a YouGov poll commissioned by HES found that the vast majority of Scots (78 per cent) think it is important that more people learn the skills required to preserve the historic environment. Similarly, the survey found that 82 per cent think it is important that there is adequate training provision. When asked which traditional skills they would consider learning themselves, 47% said historic stained glass making, 33% said stonemasonry, 32% said blacksmithing, and 20% said thatching.
Scotland needs to scale up its training opportunities in heritage skills as demand is rising rapidly due to the need to repair and retrofit traditional buildings, and factors such as climate change exacerbating existing problems.
Speaking on the importance of the Heritage Skills at Risk Register, Icon’s Chief Executive Emma Jhita said:
The conservation profession relies on a relatively small pool of highly skilled conservator-restorers. While Icon's membership represents expertise across more than 150 material practices, challenges within the education sector and a vanishingly small number of professionals in some areas of practice mean that skills-many of which have taken years to develop-exist on a knife edge.
Dr David Mitchell, Director of Cultural Assets at HES echoed this sentiment, commenting:
We have been sounding the alarm on Scotland’s heritage skills shortage for some time and it is now reaching a critical point.
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