Marchmont House
This article cites its page references.(February 2019) ) |
Marchmont House lies on the east side of the village of
History
The
Having been implicated in the
The house, its interior, and development
The family's prosperity in the late 17th century, brought about by the reward of loyalty to the Crown, made it possible for grand ideas of Marchmont House to be conceived. Thoughts of creating an impressive new family seat inspired Alexander, the second
The interior is one of the finest in Scotland. Much of the original George II period plasterwork, executed by Thomas Clayton, remains. Clayton was the best plasterer in Scotland of his time and worked for William Adam and others. He worked at other houses, including the Drum in Edinburgh, the Duke's Apartments at
Clayton's best work can still be seen at Marchmont. The Saloon was decorated between 1753-7 with military trophies on the ceiling and walls and family heraldry above door lintels detailing monograms of the 3rd Earl and his second wife. The Drawing Room celebrates the rich effect that the sun and the phases of the moon have on nature. The central panel is surrounded by baskets of fruit, flowers, and arable crops. This theme is echoed in the contemporary carved marble chimney piece decorated with the sun's rays seeming to emanate from the heat of the fire.
Some alterations to the rear elevation of the house were made in 1834-42 by the architect William Burn.[5] But major changes were made in the early 20th century. The last of the Hume family to live in the house was Sir John Hume Campbell who sold it to Robert Finnie McEwen, father of Captain Sir John Helias Finnie McEwen, who inherited a considerable fortune from his uncles who had built the harbor at Rio de Janeiro. From 1914-17 he commissioned Sir Robert Lorimer to make various alterations: a top floor was added and given dormer windows in a steeper pitched roof; the flanking pavilions were connected to the house internally; by lowering the ground at the front of the house the entrance was relocated on the ground floor with the addition of a porch, and the former entrance, now the central window of the first-floor saloon, made redundant.
Internally the main staircase was removed and replaced by a two-story open internal hall surmounted by an oval cupola, and a new grander staircase was located to the right of the entrance beneath a dome. The dining room and library were swapped so that the latter now overlooks the front of the house. A grand double-storey music room, originally designed by Lorimer for Rowallan Castle,[4] was made out of the stable wing in the north pavilion. It is finely paneled in oak with delicate carving modeled by Louis Deuchars and carved by W. and A. Clow.[6] At the east end of the room is placed a fine full-size organ by Norman and Beard of Norwich, which is still maintained today. The grand music room, one of the focal points of the house, symbolizes McEwen's love of music. We are reminded again of this love for music and that for country sports by 20th-century plaster panels by Thomas Beattie decorating the second floor of the stairwell. An accomplished musician himself, McEwen set poems by Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott to music.
The house was sold to
The grounds and outbuildings
Thoughts of replacing the family seat of Redbraes Castle with a new and grand house started long before the foundations were laid. The planting of the Great Avenue was begun in 1726 when 10,000 Dutch elms
There are about 390 acres (1.6 km2) of the designed landscape, more or less in the same format as originally laid out. The gardens were originally arranged formally and to the south and south west or rear of the house. The plans can be seen in the first edition OS map of 1857.[7] A ha-ha separates the formal gardens from the deer park to allow a seamless view leading from the tightly arranged garden through into the wilder, but still man-ordered, a policy of the deer park. Here there are many mature trees, some thought to date from the late 18th century. In 1962 the tallest oak in Britain was recorded at Marchmont. Specimen trees surround the gardens and include a fine cut-leaf beech, an arbutus, a Wellingtonia, cedars and hollies.
In the trees, behind the house to the north west, can be seen a pets’ cemetery. Closer inspection shows a neatly laid-out arrangement of 23 headstones bearing the names of fox hounds. Dating from 1866 carved with the name "Spot" to 1891 with "Little Boy", the stones relate to Patrick Hume's three packs of hounds.
In addition to the Doocot already mentioned, other interesting constructions are the steading built around a courtyard, which dates to the 17th century; the yard clock dated 1746; the associated but later three-story tower; the arched concrete span over garages, and the William Adam designed balustraded bridge of 1759, which connected the main entrance route from the north (named the Green Ride) to the approach to the house. The walled gardens laid out in the 18th century to the south of the house incorporate a magnificent greenhouse and associated structures built by Mackenzie and Moncur in 1915[6] after designs attributed to Lorimer.
Berwickshire Railway
The House had a private railway station on the North British Railway's
See also
Notes
- ISBN 0-902664-30-1
- ^ Adam, a prominent architect in his own right, was the father of a more famous architect son, Robert Adam.
- ISBN 0-300-10702-1.
- ^ a b Cruft, Dunbar and Fawcett
- ^ (Historic Environment Scotland & LB15386)
- ^ a b Cruft, Dunbar, and Fawcett.
- ^ a b "Historic Environment Scotland". www.historicenvironment.scot. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
- ISBN 0-902664-30-1
References
- Kitty Cruft, John Dunbar and Richard Fawcett, ‘'The Buildings of Scotland:Borders’' Pevsner Architectural Guides, ISBN 0-300-10702-1.
- Marchmont and the Humes of Polwarth, by One of Their Descendants 1894 ISBN 0-902664-30-1
- Memoirs of the Lives and Characters of the Right Honourable George Baillie of Jerviswood and of Lady Grisell Baillie, by Their Daughter, Lady Murray of Stanhope. Edinburgh 1874.
- Historic Environment Scotland. "MARCHMONT ESTATE, MARCHMONT HOUSE INCLUDING GARDEN WALLS, STAIRS AND SUNDIAL (Category A Listed Building) (LB15386)". Retrieved 28 February 2019.
- http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/highlightlorimer.html
- http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/index/heritage/