Science, religion and the environment in the old statistical account of Scotland

Shaw, Adrian (2026) Science, religion and the environment in the old statistical account of Scotland. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The thesis explores Church of Scotland ministers’ interest and attitudes towards the natural environment. Starting with James Hutton’s Theory of the Earth, presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1785, it questions why there was so little reaction from ministers to a theory that blatantly contradicted any literal reading of the Mosaic account of creation. The main source for the investigation is the Old Statistical Account, published in the decade following Hutton’s Theory, containing 938 parish accounts, the great majority of which were written by Church of Scotland ministers. The parish accounts provide detailed descriptions of the natural environment offering the opportunity to explore ministers’ interests and attitudes on a range of environmental issues. The thesis includes a literature review that sets out the context to the accounts. It also includes a discussion of the antecedents to the accounts, including the involvement of ministers in travel writing in the highlands. It goes on to explore the environmental contents of the accounts and how they varied across Scotland, drawing on a sample of parishes across the country, followed by a thematic analysis of the descriptions of flora, fauna and the physical environment contained in the accounts. What emerges from the study is a clergy interested and knowledgeable about the natural environment and some ‘minister naturalists’ who were expert. Educated in natural history and natural philosophy in Scottish Enlightenment universities, ministers were not shocked by Hutton’s Theory or other developments in natural sciences. Rather, they embraced enlightenment values, were committed to ‘improvement’ and to a scientific understanding of the natural environment.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Supported by funding from a Hooper Holt Scholarship, University of Glasgow.
• Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > Theology and Religious Studies
• Supervisor's Name: Methuen, Professor Charlotte and Spurlock, Professor Scott
• Date of Award: 2026
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2026-85958
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 22 May 2026 11:08
• Last Modified: 22 May 2026 11:09
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85958
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85958