Detail in the Attic of the central stairtop Digital image of C/34873

Description Detail in the Attic of the central stairtop Digital image of C/34873

Date 27/4/1994

Catalogue Number SC 759679

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 34873

Scope and Content Stair at attic-floor level, Newhailes, Musselburgh, East Lothian This shows the top of the wrought-iron (iron beaten into shape) stair by William Aitken which was part of the original design of the house. The attic floor contained living quarters, probably for the female servants with those of the male servants generally in the basement. The attic rooms were smaller in size than the first-floor bedrooms of the family and the ground-floor rooms where guests were entertained. The servants may have lived in small rooms but their conditions were considerably better than the slums that were found in many large industrial cities. 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/759679

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap