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Sir Basil Spence
Event ID 567330
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Sir Basil Spence
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/567330
Building Notes
In 1948 Basil Spence & Partners were commissioned to restore and alter Rossie Priory, an early 19th century Gothic Revival house in Perthshire. The architect William Atkinson had built the house as a replacement for the 8th Lord of Kinnaird's existing seat, Drimmie House. Originally Rossie was built on a vast scale appropriate to its monastic title, but like many country houses after the Second World War, the vast building was deemed too impractical to manage and maintain. Charles Brand of Dundee, a firm who were responsible for the demolition of at least 56 Scottish country houses at this time, pulled down the greater part of the existing mansion in 1949. The remaining two-storey west wing and chapel were restored and modernised by Spence's practice. As well as making good the existing building and stonework, they instigated changes to the internal layout of the property and to its exterior elevations. In 1953, David Rock, working in Spence's London office, designed a porch for the house.
Archive Details
Plans of the house and its surrounding grounds in the Sir Basil Spence Archive show the outline of the demolished building depicted in red. These not only show the drastic reductions that took place but also show that the foundations were to be covered with a terraced garden. Elevations show that the majority of the work carried out was to the south façade where a large bay window was added in order to 'banish gothic gloom'. The existing irregular roofline and dormer window were abandoned in favour of a level parapet and regular fenestration.
The practice's work at the property included the further demolition of an existing servants accommodation block, which was located on the far east of the remaining house and was replaced by a new servants' court.
Archive Summary
The Sir Basil Spence Archive holds no manuscript material for this project and no photographs. There are 65 drawings, which include plans, sections and elevations along with numerous structural details and designed features. These include layout of the chapel floor paving and the practice's designs for radiator niches.
The Spence, Glover and Ferguson Collection, also held by RCAHMS, holds a further 36 drawings of the Rossie Priory project. These are mainly mechanical copies of the originals held in the Sir Basil Spence Archive.
This text was written as one of the outputs of the Sir Basil Spence Archive Project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, 2005-08.
