Scottish baronial architecture
Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an
Among
Following Robert William Billings's Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland, architectural historians identified the stylistic features characteristic of the baronial castles built from the latter 16th century as Scots baronial style, which as a revived idiom architects continued to employ up until 1930s. Scottish baronial was core influence on Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Modern Style architecture.[1] The style was considered a British national idiom emblematic of Scotland, and was widely used for public buildings, country houses, residences and follies throughout the British Empire. The Scottish National War Memorial was the last significant monument of the baronial style, built 1920 in Edinburgh Castle after World War I.[2]
Revival and name
The Scottish baronial style is also called Scotch baronial,[3][4] Scots baronial or just baronial style.[5] The name was invented in the 19th century and may come from Robert William Billings's book Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland, published in 1852.[6] Before, the style does not seem to have had a name. The buildings produced by the Scottish baronial revival by far outnumber those of the original Scottish "baronial" castles of the Early Modern Period.
Predecessors
Scottish baronial style drew upon the buildings of the Scottish Renaissance. The style of elite residences built by barons in Scotland developed under the influence of French architecture and the architecture of the County of Flanders in the 16th century and was abandoned by about 1660.[5][4] The style kept many of the features of the high-rising medieval Gothic castles and introduced Renaissance features. The high and relatively thin-walled medieval fortifications had been made obsolete by gunpowder weapons but were associated with chivalry and landed nobility. High roofs, towers and turrets were kept for status reasons. Renaissance elements were introduced. This concerned mainly the windows that became bigger, had straight lintels or round bows and typically lacked mullions. The style drew on tower houses and peel towers,[4] retaining many of their external features. French Renaissance also kept the steep roofs of medieval castles as can be seen for example at Azay-le-Rideau (1518), and the original Scottish baronial style might have been influenced by French masons brought to Scotland to work on royal palaces.
The style was quite limited in scope: a style for lesser Scottish landlords. The walls usually are rubble work and only quoins, window dressings and copings are in ashlar. Sculpted ornaments are sparsely used. In most cases the windows lack pediments. The style often uses
.Such castles or tower houses are typically built on asymmetric plans. Often this is a Z-plan as at Claypotts Castle (1569–1588), or on an L-plan as at Colliston. Roof lines are uneven and irregular.
The Scottish baronial style coexisted even in Scotland with
The baronial style as well as the Scottish Renaissance style finally gave way to the grander English forms associated with Inigo Jones in the later part of the seventeenth century.[4]
Scottish baronial
European architecture of the 19th century was dominated by
Large windows of plate glass are not uncommon. Bay windows often have their individual roofs adorned by pinnacles and crenulations.
Important for the adoption of the style in the early nineteenth century was
Important for the dissemination of the style was
This architectural style was often employed for public buildings, such as
In Ireland, a young English architect of the York School of Architecture,
This form of architecture was popular in the dominions of the British Empire. In New Zealand it was advocated by the architect Robert Lawson, who designed frequently in this style, most notably at Larnach Castle in Dunedin. Other examples in New Zealand include works by Francis Petre. In Canada, Craigdarroch Castle, British Columbia, was built for Robert Dunsmuir, a Scottish coal baron, in 1890. In Toronto, E. J. Lennox designed Casa Loma in the Gothic Revival style for Sir Henry Pellatt, a prominent Canadian financier and industrialist. The mansion has battlements and towers, along with modern plumbing and other conveniences. Another Canadian example is the Banff Springs Hotel in the Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. The style can also be seen outside the empire at Vorontsov Palace near the city of Yalta, Crimea.[citation needed]
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Sir Charles Barry and similar to the ornate conical turrets, foundations and windows of contemporary restorations such as Josselin Castlein Brittany.
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Scots-Baronial-style turrets on Victorian tenements in Edinburgh
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Scots baronial turret above entrance to The Kirna, an 1867 Ballantyne property in Walkerburn, Scottish Borders.
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Balmoral Castle shows the final Victorian embodiment of the style. A principal keep reminiscent of Craigievar is the middle of the castle, while a large turreted country house is attached.
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Allahabad Public Library, in Prayagraj, India
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Powderhall Stables in Broughton, Edinburgh
Decline
The popularity of the baronial style peaked towards the end of the nineteenth century, and the building of large houses declined in importance in the twentieth century.[16] The baronial style continued to influence the construction of some estate houses, including Skibo Castle, which was rebuilt from 1899 to 1903 for industrialist Andrew Carnegie by Ross and Macbeth.[16][17] Isolated examples included the houses designed by Basil Spence, Broughton Place (1936) and Gribloch (1937–1939), which combined modern and baronial elements.[16]
The 20th-century Scottish baronial castles have the reputation of architectural follies. Among most patrons and architects the style became disfavoured along with the Gothic revival style during the early years of the 20th century.[citation needed]
See also
Notes
- ^ Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Masterpieces of Art by Gordon Kerr. p. 8.
- ISBN 978-1-4742-8348-9.
- ISBN 978-1474283472.
- ^ ISBN 0300058861.
Within the decade 1560–70, an unmistakable national style emerged—the style which the nineteenth century christened, affectionately, 'Scotch Baronial'. It continued to develop, and held its ground for about a hundred years...
- ^ a b Billings, Robert William (1852). The Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland, Volume 1 (1901 ed.). Edinburg: Oliver & Boyd. p. 6. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
From the year 1500 to 1660 or therabouts, Scotland adopted the sterner features of French and Flemish residences, and so cleverly mingled their peculiarities with the castellated architecture of their own growth as to produce a baronial style peculiar to the country.
- ^ Billings, Robert William (1845). The Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland, Volume 1 (1901 ed.). Edinburg: Oliver & Boyd.
- ^ Nick Haynes & Clive B. Fenton, Building Knowledge, An Architectural History of the University of Edinburgh (Edinburgh, 2017), pp. 236–239, 237–238.
- ISBN 978-0-19-959399-6.
- ISBN 0-415-02992-9, p. 100.
- ISBN 07134-11422.
Abbotsford (...), with its angle-turrets and crowsteps, foreshadows the early Victorian revival of the Scottish Baronial style ...
- ^ ISBN 0-275-98414-1, p. 154.
- ^ Paterson, George B. L. (1983). Orchardton House, Auchencairn, by Castle Douglas. University of Glasgow, Mackintosh School of Architecture: University of Glasgow. pp. 17, 21, 30, 38, 56–57.
- , p. 11.
- ISBN 978-0-7486-0849-2, pp. 276–285.
- ISBN 0-300-05320-7, p. 146.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-969305-6, pp. 326–328.
- ^ "New hotel is Scotland's first castle of the 21st century". Sourcewire. 10 August 2007.
External links
- Freewebs.com: The Scottish baronial: an introduction and illustrations of five notable examples.
- Craigends.org.uk, a detailed study of "David Bryce's lost masterpiece", demolished in 1971.
- Castle-oliver.com, photographs and history of a recently restored Scottish baronial masterpiece.