Calder House, Gateway And Sundial

Calder House, principally from 16th century

Seat of the Sandilands, later Lords Torphichen, since 1350. The 1590s drawing of it by Timothy Pont implies one of the great Renaissance houses of Scotland; an enormously long slab with a fanciful skyline of chimneys, towers and cupolas. A tower, with thicker walls, is embedded at the heel of the house behind the two-storey semicircular entrance. The east wing is typically mid-16th century in plan. In the early 17th century, the north wing was extended by a new stair-tower, with scale-and-platt stair up to the principal floors, a turnpike, corbelled out on its west side, up to a balustraded rooftop viewing platform. In the later 17th century, the north wing was extended again, in the style of Alexander McGill, immuring that balustraded platform at roof level, ending in a handsome four-storey quoined gable with round oculi. A comparable gable added to the south east. In c.1820, a circular two-storey Doric-porched entrance was added in the principal angle like the splayed entrance to Glamis and to Minto House. The former hall, now drawing room, retains its large Renaissance windows and fine panelling.

This was a demesne of grandeur: here John Knox may have celebrated his first Reformed Communion in Scotland in 1556; here Frédéric Chopin stayed. By stripping off its harl, flattening the roof and slicing off its dormer windows, history has conspired to diminish a great palace into a country mansion.

Many fine estate buildings; the splendid 1670 gateway, facing West Calder road; a sharply broken pediment with ball finials, scrolls and alternate courses heavily rusticated; rustic West Lodge, pavilion roof, framed by tall chimneystacks and three identically scaled round-headed openings (lacking limewash); 17th-century sundial; round-shouldered South Lodge (hungrily rubble-pointed without its harl) and pretty bargeboarded gate lodge in Bank Street.

Steading, 1808, single-storey, entered beneath three-storey pedimented doocot. Now houses.

Taken from "West Lothian: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Stuart Eydmann, Richard Jaques and Charles McKean, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk

NT06NE 2.01 0695 6697.

In the garden of Calder House is a 17th century sundial of lectern type containing 41 dials. The shaft and steps are modern. The dial-stone is 27" high by 13 1/4" wide. Also, N of the house, is a Renaissance gateway with the date 1670 carved on one of the pillars.

RCAHMS 1929, visited 1921; H B M'Call 1894

The gateway as illustrated originally stood at NT 0739 6761, but was taken down in 1930 (visited by OS (JC) 5 May 1953) and re-erected at NT 0695 6697 (information from Desk Sgt, Mid Calder Police Station).

The sundial, as illustrated, stands at NT 0695 6697.

Visited by OS (DWR) 28 March 1974

Both the gateway and sundial have been removed to make way for housing development. Present whereabouts not known.

Information from OS 27 June 1989.

The sundial was presented to the National Trust for Scotland by the County Council in 1971. It is now in the walled garden at Culzean Castle, having been restored in 1984 by George Higgs. See MS 5741/3/12.

Anne Cassells, 11 June 2009.