Dalkeith Palace
55°53′58″N 3°4′4″W / 55.89944°N 3.06778°W
Dalkeith Palace | |
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General information | |
Architectural style | Dutch Baroque, Neoclassical |
Town or city | Dalkeith, Midlothian |
Country | Scotland |
Construction started | 1701 |
Completed | 1711 |
Owner | Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | James Smith John Adam |
Dalkeith Palace is a country house in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland. It was the seat of the Dukes of Buccleuch from 1642 until 1914, and is owned by the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust. The present palace was built 1701–1711 on the site of the medieval Dalkeith Castle, and was latterly renamed Dalkeith House.
History
The medieval castle
Dalkeith Castle was located to the north east of Dalkeith and dated from the 12th century when it was in the possession of the Clan Graham, Lords of Dalkeith. With the death of John de Graham in 1341–1342 the castle and the barony of Dalkeith passed to the Clan Douglas via his sister, Marjory, who was married to Sir William Douglas. James Douglas of Dalkeith became the Earl of Morton in the mid 15th century. The castle was strategically located in an easily defensible position above a bend in the River North Esk. Nearer the centre of Dalkeith, James Douglas, 1st Lord Dalkeith, endowed the collegiate church in 1406, where Douglas earls, lords, and knights were buried.
From June 1574,
William, 6th Earl of Morton had the brewhouse, gates, and drawbridge repaired.[10] James VI visited the palace on 11 June 1617.[11] Andrew Simson presented a Latin poem celebrating the palace's grounds and describing the song of the Dalkeith nightingale.[12]
William, 7th Earl of Morton, Treasurer of Scotland, entertained King Charles I during his visit to Scotland in 1633. The king liked the place so much he considered buying the estate and turning it into a deer park. By 1637, Charles had decided to buy the castle and estate from Lord Morton. The castle was re-fortified and strengthened in order to prepare it for the king. Among other alterations, Charles I built an additional drawbridge and extra defences. With the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, Charles I found it difficult to complete his purchase of Dalkeith, and the castle was eventually returned to the Earl of Morton.
Dalkeith Palace
In 1642, Dalkeith Castle was sold by the Earl of Morton to
Smith and his cousins, Gilbert and James, signed the contract for mason work at Dalkeith Castle in March 1702. Construction of Dalkeith Palace began later that year, Smith deciding to incorporate a portion of the tower house of the old castle into the western side of the new structure. The outline of the old tower walls is still visible in the western facade of the palace today.
In 1704, William Walker and Benjamin Robinson, the chamberlain of the Duchess, went to
. This internally extensive use of marble was very much the taste of the Duchess. The majority of construction was complete by 1711.Finishing touches on the palace complex included adding a wrought iron screen with freestone piers (no longer existing) around the forecourt, a great deal of planting, and the laying out of a great avenue through the park. Dalkeith Park itself was a large area of manicured trees and gardens which in later years would include the Montagu Bridge over the North Esk River and the Dalkeith Conservatory and a grassed amphitheatre. When the final calculations were made, it was determined that the construction of Dalkeith Palace had cost the Duchess a total of £stg.17,727.
The plumber John Scott of Edinburgh re-plated the roof in lead in 1743. Some minor additions were carried out in the following years. John Adam resurfaced the building in 1762 and James Playfair inserted a low window into the east facade in 1786.
Overall, the palace is built of sandstone and has the main entrance on the south front, flanked on each side by two
18th and 19th centuries
The 5th Duke of Buccleuch considered extensive rebuilding in 1831 and William Burn produced unexecuted designs in Jacobean style. More minor alterations were carried out, together with improvements to the surrounding estate including a new house and offices for the Duke's Chamberlain, and the construction, for the 5th Duke, of St Mary's Church as a private chapel by William Burn and David Bryce. The church contains one of only two water-powered organs in Scotland.
Several well-known figures from English and Scottish history have been guests at the palace in the intervening centuries.
Subsequent history
Dalkeith Palace has not been lived in by the Buccleuch family since 1914, and in 1920 the palace gardens and glasshouses were let as market gardens. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Dalkeith Palace was used as a research and development office by the computer firm
See also
Footnotes
- ^ Thomas Hearne, Collectanea, John Leland, vol. 4 (London, 1770), pp. 258–300.
- ^ Joseph Bain, Calendar of State Papers Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 115 no. 236.
- ^ Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), p. 231 no. 293.
- ^ William Boyd, Calendar of State Papers Scotland, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1905), pp. 677, 680.
- ^ Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 167–173.
- ^ Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 358 no. 434.
- ^ Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 752–5: Calendar of Border Papers, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1894), p. 405.
- ^ Calendar of State Papers Scotland, vol. 13 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 362: Letters to King James the Sixth from the Queen, Prince Henry, Prince Charles etc (Edinburgh, 1835), pp. lxxii–lxxiii
- ^ Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1597–1603, vol. 13 (Edinburgh, 1969), pp. 865–6.
- ^ Margaret H. B. Sanderson, Mary Stewart's People (Edinburgh, 1987), pp. 69–70.
- ^ John Nichols, Progresses, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities of King James the First, vol. 3 (London, 1828), p. 336.
- ^ Roger P. H. Green, 'The King Returns: The Muses Welcome', Steven J. Reid & David McOmish, Neo-Latin Literature and Literary Culture in Early Modern Scotland (Brill, 2017), pp. 141–2.
- ^ Wisconsin in Scotland programme
External links
- John Slezer's view of Dalkeith Castle, c.1690 digital image from National Library of Scotland