View from NW.

Description View from NW.

Date 10/5/1995

Catalogue Number SC 626559

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 38811 CN

Scope and Content Gate lodges from north-west, Newbattle Abbey House, Midlothian This shows a pair of two-storeyed, early 18th-century gate lodges designed by architect Alexander McGill (d.1734) at the entrance to the estate. The gate piers are linked to the lodges by a colonnade topped by stone lions. Each lodge is built of sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings, and has a corniced platform roof with a balustraded parapet ornamented by obelisks and urns. Further swagged urns decorate the outer boundary walls. Gate lodges are the first part of the estate seen by a visitor, so were often used to suggest the wealth and taste of the landowner, and to reflect the style of the main house. They housed the gatekeeper and his family, whose job was to monitor arrivals and departures to and from the estate. Some large estates might have several lodges at their many entrances. Newbattle Abbey was founded by Cistercian monks in 1140, and its church dedicated to St Mary in 1233-4. It became a private residence in 1587 when the last abbot, Mark Kerr, converted to Protestantism and was able to retain his lands. His son became Lord Newbattle in 1596. The remains of the abbey are built into the surviving house, which was modified and rebuilt by the architects John Mylne (1650), William Burn (1836) and David Bryce (1858). The house was gifted to the nation in 1937 to be used as a further education college. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/626559

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap