The village of Errol will host a week-long international festival of earth building when Clayfest rolls into Perthshire.
Organised by national charity Earth Building UK (EBUK), the festival will explore how people and places reflect the experience of building with clay.
Errol was deemed the perfect location because the ancient Scottish town was built using the lost clay tradition of mudwall.
The Horn Farmhouse is seen as one prime example of the area’s heritage of vernacular buildings built from clay during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Tom Morton of EBUK said: “We usually have our annual conference at more formal locations last year it was at Norwich Cathedral but this is a fantastic opportunity to visit a community that is surrounded by traditional earth buildings.
“We will be bringing people from Iceland, Arizona, France, Holland and China to share experience and celebrate this great way of building.
“Training is going to be a big theme, with a lot of support from Historic Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland.”
Clayfest, which will take place between June 8 and June 13, will involve four days of workshops covering a range of techniques including rammed earth, cob, mudwall conservation, clay plasters, turf building, and clay/fibres.
The aim of the workshops is to let participants learn about all these skills by doing a different workshop each day, while they can also delve deeper into a particular technique.
EBUK will work alongside the Tay Landscape Partnership and the local community as part of three-year programme of activities to explore and celebrate local earth heritage.
Sophie Nicol from the Tay Landscape Partnership said: “Not many people know that most of the traditional buildings in and around Errol are built of clay.
“This is one of a series of events that the Tay Landscape Partnership are supporting by working with local residents, homeowners and Errol Primary School.”
Errol resident Eileen Morrison added: “We were a little surprised at the start but we’ve been discussing this for six months now and I think it’s going to be great for the village.”
Villagers can discover more about the upcoming festival at a coffee morning from 10am to 2pm tomorrow at Errol Village Hall. Local mudmason Becky Little will be on hand to talk about clay buildings, their importance and history.