Entance doorway (within wall), view from South West Digital image of D/12654

Description Entance doorway (within wall), view from South West Digital image of D/12654

Date 18/4/1997

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 759658

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 12654

Scope and Content Entrance doorway, Servants' Tunnel, Newhailes, Musselburgh, East Lothian This shows the door and arched entrance to the servants' underground tunnel which led from the basement of the house to a walled area of the garden. Deliveries were taken into the house along this tunnel and servants would enter and leave by this route. This meant that they were hidden from the view of the family and their guests. The house is visible behind the wall on the right. This tunnel would be used every day as the supply of fresh meat, vegetables and fruit was extremely important. Traditionally, meat was preserved by salting and kept fresh during the summer in a meat safe which was a wooden cupboard with a metal mesh door which allowed air to circulate. James Smith (c.1645-1731) architect, designed and built Newhailes House (originally known as Whitehill) in 1686. Sir David Dalrymple (c.1665-1721) bought the estate in 1709 and started the construction of the library wing in 1718 which was completed after his death in 1721 by his son, Sir James Dalrymple (1692-1751). The house was modernised in 1871-3 when Lord Shand was tenant, and has remained largely unchanged since. The National Trust for Scotland became the owners of Newhailes House in January 1997. The house opened to the public on 1 June 2002 after a £12.7 million conservation project that ensured the house was stabilised without losing the patination of the interior decoration. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/759658

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap