NTS Documentary Reference Event

Date February 2013 - February 2013

Event ID 933892

Category Documentary Reference

Type Reference

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/933892

Inveresk Lodge, well situated at the south-eastern end of the village, with its principal façade orientated perpendicular to the main street, overlooking its large gardens. The principal five-bay wing that faces south-east was completed in 1683 (this date based on a dated lintel on the stair tower), with the extension and heightening of the NW wing being completed by the end of the century.

There appears to be little evidence to confirm any pre-1683 structure other than the layout of the NW extension –Green raises this point stating that ‘Inveresk Lodge appears to have been constructed on the site of or incorporating earlier buildings. This would explain the curious angle of the E kitchen wall and related parallel walls’.

According to the RCAHMS Inventory of 1929 the original form of the lodge would appear to have been the ‘main block, 25-feet broad and 55-feet long, of two storeys and a garret in height’, served by an octagonal stair projecting from the NW elevation (at the midpoint of the ‘main block’), with its principal entrance at the base of the stair in the re-entrant angle. The RCAHMS Inventory suggests that the NW wing forming the ‘original’ L-plan extended only as far as the north wall of the scullery, with the aforementioned extension adding further rooms to the NW to connect with a stable range.

The evidence of a former dormer window to the NW corner of the main block, it would suggest that the roof of any ‘original’ NW wing was lower than it is now. This would suggest that if the NW extension was completed by 1700, the roof of the ‘original’ NW wing must presumably have been raised at the same time – but this presents a quandary in that the roofline is not contiguous and clearly dates to different periods. Furthermore, the roof structure in the ‘original’ NW wing differs from the main block, as does the roof structure to the top of the stair. This therefore alludes to the original rectangular form, or more likely, T-plan with projecting octagonal stair serving only the first floor. The first part of the NW wing is therefore a subsequent phase, which rose to the full height of the main block, blocking the aforementioned dormer in the process. This was perhaps coupled with the raising of the stair tower to serve this second floor level and would appear to make sense of the unusual sharp right-hand turn at the top of the stair that leads into the NW wing that has no evidence of a direct entry in to the main block.

Furthermore, although it is known that the combed ceiling to the first floor room (variously referred to as state dining room, drawing room or billiard room), is an early 18th century alteration, there is evidence of plastered walls behind the combe. This suggests not a double-height space, but a two-storey space with the existing garret above – rather than the floor level of the garret having been

raised to increase the height of the room below. The enlarged windows to this grand room have further obscured the original section of the building, but the evidence seems to suggest two storeys, attic plus garret, neatly tying in with the visual arrangement of the NW wing extension and the near contemporary Halkerston with their double lines of dormers.

Many of the interiors date from the 18th century, with subsequent minor alterations in the 19th century including the advanced window of the new dining room on the ground floor (with the state dining room above then becoming a drawing room), and the addition of a full-height extension to the NW of the stair tower.

At some point between 1921 and 1943, the subdivision between the smoking room/entrance hall and drawing room was removed, and the ‘18th century panelling [was] ‘stretched’ round all the walls’. Further alterations carried out in the 20th century included new bathrooms, but not on the scale suggested by the 1937 drawings held by the RCAHMS that proposed a half-octagonal extension to the south end of the SW elevation.

A Historic Building Survey carried out in 2010 on the eastern roof structure of Inveresk Lodge suggests that the Lodge was built up over a number of periods, with the first roof structure comprising the timberwork above the long east range, indicating that the east range is an ‘original core’ of the present Lodge.

That the other elements of the ‘L-plan’ are secondary are suggested by their roof structures. The stair tower roof runs over that of the E range, as does that of the western jamb of the ‘L’. Of the two the stair tower seems to have been erected first, the dated lintel indicating c1683. The early E range thus became a ‘T’-plan. This is further supported by the very noticeable difference in window detail between the early surviving windows of the E range, which have quirked rolls, and those of the stair tower, which are chamfered.

The addition of the western jamb occurred later, and seems to have been associated with a major reordering of the interior of the E wing – the formation of the double-height great chamber, a probable State Dining Room, and creation of associated high status rooms at the S end of the E range and within the new W jamb. The details of these interiors suggest an early 18th century date. A painted date discovered beneath panelling of 1704 may relate to these works.

The Survey suggested that even the early part of the building is far more complicated than previously supposed. The early roof structure pre-dates work dated to c1683 (the stair tower). Typologically the roof form could be considerably earlier. The possibility of an earlier 17th century or even late 16th century date cannot be excluded on the basis of present evidence.

Information from NTS