Accessibility

Font Size

100% 150% 200%

Background Colour

Default Contrast
Close Reset

Summary Record

Date May 2009

Event ID 609062

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Summary Record

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/609062

The estate of Duntreath originally formed part of the earldom of Lennox, but after the execution of Earl Duncan James I transferred it over to his brother-in-law William Edmonstone of Culloden. The lands of Duntreath have since been in the possession of the Edmonstone family since c.1434. James II confirmed the grant of the lands in 1452 when the estate was erected into a free barony.

As described in the RCAHMS inventory of 1963, 'much of the original building has long since removed, but in the 17th century the castle must have been a very imposing one, as it then consisted of a tower and a quadrangular set of buildings enclosing a central courtyard. Now, however, only the tower survives, together with part of a large Victorian edifice most of which was demolished in the summer of 1958.'

The large rectangular tower of three storeys and an attic appears to have been constructed after 1452 and is characteristic of the latter half of the 15th century. Each floor was originally divided into two compartments, with a large wheel stair at the south corner and a smaller one in the north. The ground floor is vaulted and the first floor contained the great hall and solar with further accommodation above. The south-east gable of the tower contains part of an earlier building which appears to be of late 14th century date and at one time been used as a chapel. A south-east kitchen range linked this tower chapel range to the short south-west range known as the Dumb Lairds Tower parts of which survive in the present house. An extremely fine gatehouse erected by Sir James Edmonstone 6th of Duntreath at the turn of the 16th century completed the buildings on the northwest side of the courtyard linked to the tower and other buildings by a barmkin.

The whole complex had fallen into ruin by the early 19th century and in 1857 Charles Wilson and David Thomson were employed to restore the complex. They created a spacious home with a new detached gatehouse reusing elements of Sir James's gatehouse on the same axis as the original, but further to the north-east. Copies of these plans are held at RCAHMS.

Between 1889 and 1893 Duntreath was dramatically transformed by the Edinburgh practice Sydney Mitchell and Wilson into a great Franco-Scots palace with a truly opulent series of reception rooms. The exuberance of the architecture and the magnificence of the interiors were captured by the photographer Bedford Lemere and included in the seminal publication 'Das Englische Haus' by Herman Muthesius. The Sydney Mitchell drawings and the Bedford Lemere photographs are held by RCAHMS.

After its Edwardian heyday, when through a daughter of the house it became a resort for the highest echelons of society, its scale and opulence became unmanageable. The family offered it as a home for the Burrell Collection but this came to nothing. In the summer of 1958 extensive demolitions were carried out leaving three elements: the 15th century tower; part of the 1857 south east range, reusing elements of the Dumb Laird's Tower, as altered by Sydney Mitchell and Wilson; and the 1857 detached gatehouse, now a chapel containing elements of the 16th century one.

Information from RCAHMS (STG), 2009

People and Organisations

References