RCAHMS: Exploring Scotland's Heritage - Fife and Tayside, 1987

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Date 1987

Event ID 1085879

Category Project

Type Project

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1085879

Some 111 detailed site descriptions from this publication were entered into Canmore in 2017. The book was a collaboration between Dr Bruce Walker (University of Dundee) and Dr Graham Ritchie (RCAHMS), the series editor Dr. Anna Ritchie, and RCAHMS staff, and aimed to provide a thorough introduction to a wide range of monuments dating from prehistoric to recent times in a region of Scotland.

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Event	Type	Subtype	Notes	Date
1016819	DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS	PUBLICATION ACCOUNT	As a class, dovecotes tend to be the oldest surviving agricultural buildings in this region. Pigeon farming was an important agricultural pursuit from the medieval period onwards, only declining after the introduction of fresh meat markets at the end of the 18th century. Dovecotes had a similar status to rabbit warrens and deer forests but, being buildings, they are easier to identify. In addition to providing fresh meat and eggs over the winter months, the dovecote also provided large quantities of valuable manure. The pigeon farmed in these structures was a type of rockdove which gave a white meat similar to rabbit rather than the dark meat of the wood pigeon. The pigeons were eaten as fully grown birds, as squabs or young birds and as eggs. [...]	1987
1016847	DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS	PUBLICATION ACCOUNT	When the site of Hill ofTarvit was purchased by a new owner in 1904, it was occupied by Wemyss Hall, a small house, dating from 1696 and attributed to Sir William Bruce (see no. 37), with two 19th century wings to the rear. Sir Robert Lorimer was commissioned to build a new house of similar character to Wemyss Hall but larger, with well windowed lofty rooms capable of accommodating the new owners collection of French furniture. There was no conflict of interests in these requirements as most 17th century Scottish architecture, particularly that produced by Bruce, was influenced by French styles. [...]	1987
1016869	DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNTS	PUBLICATION ACCOUNT	Edzell Castle, perhaps more than any other fortifIed house in Scotland, illustrates the impact of the change in attitude towards domestic comfort and architectural grandeur that took place in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in Scotland. The simple L-plan towerhouse was extended to provide a courtyard house with formal pleasure garden or pleasance, incorporating a summer house and bath house, and at a short distance to the east a dovecote and the home farm, all executed with a degree of intellectual and architectural flair. The tower and courtyard house are now ruined and the farm steading has been replaced and altered during successive agricultural improvements, but the most signifIcant element in the composition and the one that lifts Edzell beyond its contemporaries is the pleasance. This comprises a walled, parterre garden incorporating within its classical framework various heraldic and symbolic sculptured panels and architectural devices which are unique in Scotland and give Edzell Castle a distinctive place in the history of European Renaissance art. [...]	1987

Related Collection Item(s)

WP 003889

Exploring Scotland's Heritage: Fife And Tayside

RCAHMS: Exploring Scotland's Heritage - Fife and Tayside, 1987

People and Organisations

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References