Newhailes, Estate

The Newhailes estate is situated to the west of Musselburgh, approximately 1km from the Firth of Forth, and is within the parish of Inveresk in East Lothian. The current estate extends to approximately 44ha with the house standing at its core.

The core of the estate was originally known as Whitehill and was bought by James Smith around 1686 who proceeded to construct the villa which forms the centre of Newhailes today. Smith enlarged the estate by purchasing the land which contains the Brunstane Burn & Water Gardens. Originally the access to, and focus of, Whitehill was from the north, with the driveway running through what is now the Cow Park. Smith was forced to sell the estate in 1702, and it was bought by Lord Bellenden who changed its name to Broughton House. The estate seems to have remained static under the ownership of Lord Bellenden, and in 1709 it was sold to Sir David Dalrymple, 1st Bart., of Hailes who renamed it Newhailes to distinguish it from his family estate of Hailes in East Lothian (the estate remained in the ownership of the Dalrymple family until it was gifted to the National Trust for Scotland in 1997).

Dalrymple immediately set about making changes to the house and estate; the east and west wings, to be added to the original Whitehill property, were planned out, with construction of the east (Library) wing commencing in 1718, and of the west (state apartment) wing in 1728. Over the 18th century the gardens and parkland underwent major development and changes which shaped Newhailes into the estate we see today.

One of the earliest garden features to be installed were the two statues of Gladiators and two statues of Sphynxes purchased in 1740. The monument to the Earl of Stair in the north-west woodland is one of the few features with a directly attributable date, being erected in 1746. From 1721 the parkland to the north of the house was improved and the area known as Brick Kiln Park was levelled and prepared in 1735. The terrace walk known as Ladies Walk was also constructed around this time, as it is visible on Roy’s map of 1750. Although not clear enough in detail, Roy’s map suggests that Teahouse was also in use at this point, and based on further documentary evidence a date of ca. 1744-47 is suggested for its construction.

It was (presumably) in the latter half of the 18th century that the Shell Grotto and Cascade were built; letters and itemised bills from this period indicate that work was carried out on the Grotto, although they also hint that this work improved, or replaced, an earlier structure. Further letters and estate plans indicate that the Grotto pond was filled in, and the burn culverted in 1815.

Significant changes were made to the estate by Christian Dalrymple between 1792 and 1838. The woodland walks leading to the Grotto & Teahouse were elaborated, and further walks around the parkland created. The flower garden immediately to the west of the house was planned in 1818 and developed soon after. The work included the construction of a greenhouse, fruit store and heated walls, with the Flower Garden set out as a collection of smaller gardens, an oval American Garden, and a semi-circular Rosery set out amidst flowing, curvilinear paths and paisley-pattern shaped beds. In 1826 lands to the north of the Parkland were purchased extending the estate to the Musselburgh crossroads.

The greatest development initiated by Christian Dalrymple occurred on the southern side of the estate. Here a major programme of works was initiated in 1824 resulted in the construction of a new approach to the house from the south. This involved rerouting the public road and constructing a new driveway as well as the main gates and lodge (as they stand today). In 1826 the complex housing the stables and estate offices was completed, signifying the last major development at Newhailes.

The other significant development was the sale of some land at the south end of the Newhailes estate to be used for the Edinburgh to Dalkeith railway line which was opened in 1832.

Following the death of Christian Dalrymple in 1838 the subsequent inheritors of the estate spent little time living there; instead the house, and later the estate, were rented out to a number of individuals until 1916 when Sir David Dalrymple inherited and inhabited Newhailes. During the period from 1840 onwards little changes were made to the estate and gardens; the exception being the further culverting of the burn in response to an outbreak of typhoid. Work on maintaining fences and the glasshouses, as well as managing the woodland appear to be the few activities to be carried out, with the parkland being rented out to tenant farmers with a number of different crops grown and livestock kept on the land.

During the 20th century there were few changes to the Newhailes estate. In 1949 the two lead Sphynxes from the north lawn were stolen and sand quarrying was undertaken in the north east portion of Sheep Park. This quarry was used as a landfill in the later 20th century before being covered over and the land handed back to the control of the estate. In the 1960s the canal between the Flower Garden and the Stables was filled in, later, the Teahouse was damaged by a falling tree and the Grotto was vandalised and fell into disrepair.

8 'Zones of Distinct Landscape Character' can be identified across the Newhailes estate:

Zone 1: Newhailes House, Forecourt and Lawn

Zone 2: Parkland

Zone 3: Woodland Groves, Pleasure Grounds and Boundary belts

Zone 4: Stables and Shrubberies

Zone 5: Lodge Park

Zone 6: Walled Garden

Zone 7: Washing Green

Zone 8: Outer Park

Zone 1: Newhailes House, Forecourt and Lawn

This area forms the core of the overall architectural and landscape design and is a highly architectural and contrived composition. The layout of the landscape is centered on the house, with the main and secondary axes and open compartments laid out in relation to it. Together with the proportions of the forecourt and of the promontory lawn, these features characterise the formal Palladian landscape. The two parts are as follows.

1) The forecourt – a Baroque-style enclosure situated at the south-west front, which encloses the approach along the encircling drive and the south facade and main entrance to the house. The layout and style date to the early-18th century although the internal planting, which is mainly of smaller, ornamental trees dates to the mid/late 20th century.

2) The promontory lawn – an integral feature of the formal Palladian layout providing a platform on which the house sits and a transitional space between the house and park, which it is separated from by the ha-ha. In views from the house it forms and contains the foreground with its perimeter trees framing distant views. The age, species and distribution of trees around the perimeter is varied, not forming a regular line, of several species and ranging from trees of late-18th century to early-20th century origin.

Zone 2: Parkland

This zone lies to the north-west and north-east of the house and is characterised by the broad expanse of grassland enclosed by a perimeter woodland belt. The largest area, visible from the north front of Newhailes House, is Sheep Park. This is now divided by a fence along the boundary of the former sand quarry/sandfill area, separating the northern grazed areas of parkland from those nearer the house. The north-western boundary of the Sheep Park is formed by the Terrace Walk (or Ladies’ Walk) which runs in a north-easterly direction from the boundary of the western Grove to a point quarter of the way along the perimeter belt.

The Cow Park to the west of the Terrace Walk is enclosed on all other sides by a belt of trees. It is similar in character to the Sheep Park, although smaller in extent.

The layout of the parkland dates from c.1718-1751. Roy’s map shows that they were in their current form by c.1750 and documentary references refer to the laying out of the park in 1719 and 1725. The outline of the irregular-oval shape of the park is a naturalistic form made formal by the axial planting of platoon tree blocks and the Terrace Walk.

Parkland planting seems to have been confined to the platoon planting, which gradually depleted and disappeared during the 19th century. No evidence has been found that this was associated with a northern approach to the house, although an approach to the north side of the house from the east is an alternative possibility.

Sand quarrying, landfill, horse grazing and lack of management have degraded the landscape of the parks this century, and the abandoned date of the Terrace Walk now makes it appear as a tree belt. Otherwise the spatial arrangement and visual relationship to the house has survived.

Zone 3: Woodland

Two areas of woodland flank Newhailes House, one to the north west (Zone 3a) and the other to the south east (Zone 3b). They are important blocks of woodland in the formal, designed landscape as they frame the house in long distance views back from the parkland and provide a physical and visual demarcation to the sunken forecourt, which is one of the principal components of the architectonic design. The woodland groves lead into the parkland belts which form the perimeter planting to Zone 2.

The north-western grove has a dense tree canopy, particularly along the pleasure grounds which run along the Newhailes Burn. These now consist of remnant features, including the Shell Grotto, Cascade & Teahouse, and muddy tracks through heavy woodland. Areas of yew trees associated with the early/mid 18th century landscaping survive to the south-west of the house, between the ruined Flower Garden and the boundaries of the estate on the north side. In some areas, heavily regenerating trees, principally sycamore, are obscuring the few more open areas that survived, particularly around the Earl of Stair's Monument.

The south-east grove has a comparable heavy canopy although there are fewer areas of such dense shade due to the different species mix. Small glades where trees have been felled or lost occur, although the major clearing is the Bowling Green to the east of the house.

Zone 4: Stables and Shrubberies

The principal features and layout relate to the late-18th /mid-19th century activity and to the alterations resulting from moving the public road to its present route. Roy shows a substantially different arrangement in this area to that on Bauchop’s plan. The straight formal approach to the forecourt, shown on the latter, was swept away and covered by an earthwork bank made from the arisings of cutting the new entrance drive through the earlier, formal terraces, although the bank is now hidden within the trees and shrubbery. This was undertaken around the same time that the new stables were built in 1826.

The tree structure of the shrubberies around the Stables also date to this period although some groups of planting, especially along the paths and drive would appear to be later-19th and 20th century shrubberies.

The clear area retains no trace of the former canal, later called the curling pond, which lay on the north side of this area, in line with the early-18th century longer canal further south and the Long Garden positioned between the house and Flower Garden. The canal/curling pond is said to have been filled in the 1960s.

Zone 5: Lodge Park

Although emparked in the late-18th/mid-19th century improvements following the road diversion, the underlying form of this area has changed little since the 18th century. The route of the old public road can still be traced, with the ditch and some of the road-side trees surviving on the north side of Lodge Park. No evidence of the long canal has been found. The field boundaries of the Ward and the Stack Yard, ranged behind the Stable block are apparent but nothing remains of the 19th century serpentine paths in the perimeter belt, or the former field boundary trees and clump planting in the park.

Zone 6: The Walled Garden

The Walled Garden (Kitchen Garden) is a distinct area which has remained in similar use from the second half of the 18th century until today. Its walls and buildings (including perimeter walls, dovecot, greenhouses, potting and storage sheds, propagation houses etc) in combination demonstrate the continuous development and utilisation of the space over this period. It is currently in use as a small garden centre with the northerly compartments used as growing areas.

Zone 7: Washing Green

The triangular paddock known as the Washing Green sits alongside the Walled Garden, and its form is largely unchanged from the later 18th century, with the modern visitor car park to its east.

Zone 8: The Outer Park

This zone of the historic landscape and its features has been superseded almost entirely by 20th century housing and other development, and is not part of the National Trust for Scotland land. The policy walls along the Edinburgh-Musselburgh road have survived as does Park End Lodge which stands at the crossroads with the Niddry-Fisherrow road.

Information from NTS, January 2013