Panmure House, Angus.
© McManus Galleries,
Dundee City Council
Leisure and Arts.
SC916592

Entrance hall, Panmure
House, Angus. SC916599

Entrance hall, Panmure
House, Angus. SC916605

Cavers House, Scottish
Borders. © McManus
Galleries, Dundee City
Council Leisure and Arts.
SC916578

Partially demolished
Cavers House, Scottish
Borders. 24 Oct 1979.
SC916614

Over 180 country houses were demolished or gutted in Scotland in the years after the Second World War [1]. This highlight concentrates on those that were demolished by a particular firm, Charles Brand of Dundee. Between 1945 and 1965, they demolished at least 56 country houses in various regions across Scotland. They documented their work, collecting news-cuttings, taking photographs, and even commissioning an artist (Colin Gibson) to draw many of the houses before they were destroyed. This collection gives a fascinating insight into the reasons behind the demolition and opinions about it.

A number of factors led to the widespread demolition of country houses. During the Second World War, the government requisitioned every country house in Britain for use as schools, hospitals, evacuee housing, and military training grounds and bases. Although there was little material damage resulting from the war, the houses suffered by being adapted to other uses. By the end of the war, six years of heavy use and neglected maintenance left many buildings in a sorry state. The government provided financial compensation to their owners, but the process was very slow, and the money limited.

There were additional blows to the country house way of life. The variety of work that women had done during the war meant that they were reluctant to go back into service and the menial work which that entailed, so domestic servants were hard to find. Without live-in staff, the country house was not a practical place to live, and many were increasingly outdated, without bathrooms or electricity. Furthermore, as society moved towards the ideals of social welfare and equality, the owners of country houses, as a privileged and wealthy group, were among those with the highest taxes. This made it difficult to find the money for expensive building repairs, such as re-roofing or treating dry rot or woodworm. Inheritance tax was a particular burden, as the inheritors were taxed on the building’s value and then had to finance its upkeep.

Panmure House, Angus, an early and important classical Scottish country house, built by John Mylne in 1666, and altered by David Bryce was one such example. With 130 rooms and only 2 bathrooms, no electricity and no central heating, it had been empty since the beginning of the century except for temporary shooting parties, and the troops during the war. It proved impossible to find a buyer, and in 1955 it was demolished. The estate factor commented that “It is with very considerable regret and after much careful thought that the decision has been taken to demolish Panmure House…but strenuous efforts by the trustees have not been successful in finding an occupier” [2]. 25,000 tons of unwanted stonework was buried, and the land was restored to agriculture. Another case was Thirlstane House, Selkirkshire, burnt down in 1965 because it was riddled with dry rot, which would have cost over £15,000 to repair.

Other houses, such as Rossie Priory in Perth and Kinross and Logan House in East Ayrshire, were reduced down to an old core or single wing which could be more practicably lived in and looked after. In the vast majority of cases, demolition was a last resort having repeatedly failed to sell or find an alternative use. At the demolition of Cavers House, the Borders, in 1952, James Palmer Douglas, the 23rd laird told the press; “I tried to sell it – at any price. I advertised it up and down the country, I approached the County Council and the Government. I asked my M.P., I offered it to the National Trust. I suggested it might be an hotel, a holiday home, a school, a hospital, a place for old folk, and I would have let it go for £4,000. They all said that whatever happened it mustn’t be demolished, but nobody would take it. So now it goes for what its insides will fetch as scrap, and I’ll be left with a ruin” [3].

The final catalyst for demolition was the scarcity of materials that were desperately needed for post-war construction. This made it more commercially viable, in many cases, to demolish the houses than to leave them empty. The result was the large-scale demolition of many architecturally important buildings across Britain, a loss which was “probably as great as that from the destructions following the Dissolution of the Monasteries” [4]. Every possible element of the building was re-used; any fittings which could be removed, and even the rubble whenever possible. At Cavers, they removed and sold 450m² of roofing and 1280m² of flooring. Windows went for £1, a door for 50 shillings, and fireplaces for 5-10 shillings. They also sold mirrors, books, bathroom fittings, stairs, wall paneling, light fittings and switches, central heating pipes and radiators.

The attitude to the razing of these houses was characterised by a combination of a certain pride in the economical and resourceful reuse of old materials, and a regret for the destruction of many beautiful buildings. Charles Brand themselves followed this trend; their collection of news-cuttings shows pride in their skill in recycling building materials, while their specially commissioned drawings demonstrate a respect for the original splendour of the houses.

New Murthly Castle in Perth and Kinross, designed by James Gillespie Graham in 1827, and demolished in 1948-9, was an example of this positive attitude towards demolition. Built on the estate of, and intended to replace, Old Murthly Castle (which still stands and is lived in by the same family), it was never finished, left as an empty shell when it passed from the original laird to a disinterested relative. The current laird commented that “now, when materials are so scarce, and so badly needed, the enormous tonnage will make a valuable contribution to buildings projects.” [5] In fact, the stone from Murthly was used as ballast in one of Scotland’s most well known construction projects of the time, the Pitlochry hydroelectric dam, which itself is now grade A listed by Historic Scotland. The news-cuttings show that the Hydroelectric board was expecting to recover nearly 24,000 m³ of stone, some of which they planned to use to build workers housing at Parkcroy, Lettoch, and Tarbet.

RCAHMS holds records, including photographs, drawings, books and articles, of demolished buildings of all types from around Scotland. This is an invaluable archive for the understanding of the development of Scotland’s built heritage. The Charles Brand collection contains newspaper cuttings of 27 of the buildings they demolished, a scrapbook with photographs of 16 houses before, during and after demolition as well as drawings by Colin Gibson of 32 of the houses prior to demolition.

1. Roy Strong, Marcus Binney, John Harris; 'The Destruction of the Country House'; Thames and Hudson 1974
2. Anon, ‘Panmure House to be demolished’, The Courier and Advertiser, 07/03/1955
3. James Palmer, quoted in Frank Walker, ‘Laird sees 52-roomed home auctioned’, The Scottish Daily Mail, 29/08/1952
4. John Harris, 'No Voice from the Hall: Early Memories of a Country House Snooper', John Murray, 1998
5. Anon, ‘One Blast will end the Laird’s Dream Castle’, news cutting, c.11/1948

Spinning mills at Ferguslie
Thread Works.

Half-time school,
Ferguslie Thread Works.

Interior view of No. 1
spinning mill, Ferguslie
Thread Works.

Ground floor of No. 1
spinning mill, Ferguslie
Thread Works.

Aerial view of Anchor
Thread Works.

Drive well, domestic
finishing mill, Anchor
Thread Works.

Paisley, the largest town in Scotland, situated to the West of Glasgow, is synonymous world-wide with the shawls made there during the 19th century. These shawls are recognisable by the Eastern influenced teardrop shaped motif woven on the fine soft fabric. An essential part of this manufacturing process was thread, which had been made in Paisley since the 18th century. The two families in Paisley who were at the forefront of the vast thread manufacturing operation were the Coats and the Clarks.

No. 1 spinning mill, Ferguslie Thread Works.

James Coats (1774-1857) established the first small mill at Ferguslie Thread Works in 1826. His sons, James, a shawl maker and Peter, an accountant, founded the firm of J & P Coats with their brother Thomas, also an accountant, joining them later. The most impressive building on the expansive Ferguslie Thread Works site was the vast French Renaissance style No.1 Spinning Mill, designed by Woodhouse and Morley of Bradford. The building, dating from 1887, was constructed from dressed red stone with contrasting cream coloured quoins. On the top of the five floors (referred to as flats) were balustrades, corner turrets with copper roofs, decorative urns, and a pediment bearing the names J & P Coats and Ferguslie Thread Works and the date 1886. The machinery in this mill was still in use until January 1984 and the building was demolished in 1992.

Woodhouse and Morley also designed the ornate former Half-Time School, which was constructed in 1887. It derived its name from the fact that the workers attended it for half of every working day. The same contrasting red and cream coloured stone was used in this single storey building, as in the No.1 Spinning Mill. This former school had ornate Venetian windows, which were bordered in cream coloured stone. It was listed category B (HB Number: 39033) by Historic Scotland in March 1985 when it was in use as the Ciba Geigy Social Club. However, subsequently this building was partially demolished and was recorded photographically by RCAHMS Threatened Buildings Survey in 2000 in a ruinous condition.

The vast expansion of the buildings at Ferguslie Thread Works, from the mid-19th century onwards, was due to the shrewd marketing of goods in America of another Coats brother, Andrew. More large mills were constructed and other associated buildings like the various dye works, gatehouses, packing and storage building, laboratory, counting house, turning and joiners’ shops were all built on the site. These were positioned to take full advantage of the Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal, built between 1806-1810, which ran through the site. This was an important component in the distribution and supply of all the materials, both building and manufacturing.

There are 500 photographs of the buildings on the Ferguslie Thread Works site on open access in our public search room. These include approximately 45 photographic copies of J & P Coats historic photographs taken in the late 19th century, which record some of the many employees at work. There are also photographs documenting the removal of machinery in the buildings and of their demolition as well as a Scottish Industrial Archaeological Survey manuscript containing useful research notes and many prints. Also, there are 30 aerial photographs of the site and many drawings of the buildings.

Domestic finishing mill, Anchor Thread Works.

The Clark family was the driving force behind the creation of Anchor Thread Works. James Clark was the inventor of the wooden spool or bobbin. His brother Patrick exploited the drop in the supply of silk, due to Napoleon’s famous Berlin decree in 1806, which issued a blockade on commerce to and from the British Isles, by perfecting a smooth, fine cotton thread to replace it. In 1812 this new product, named Anchor, was launched. The construction of the complex of buildings known as Anchor Thread Works at Seedhill immediately followed. The two main buildings were the five-storey Atlantic and Pacific Mills, built between 1872 and 1878. They covered an area of 162.2 by 24.4 metres (532 by 80 feet) and were constructed from red brick with sandstone details. These buildings had main and secondary towers, measuring two bays wide and were linked by a central tower erected in 1886. They were demolished in the early 1970s.

Another prominent building on the Anchor Thread Works site is the Domestic Finishing Mill. This category A five storey mill (HB No: 38915) with an adjoining six storey tower was also designed by Woodhouse and Morley and is built from red brick with contrasting cream brick around the windows. Fortunately, it survives and has been converted into apartments (on the top three floors) and commercial space by the Prince of Wales’s Phoenix Trust who have already successfully converted Stanley Mills, near Perth, into housing.

On the public search room quick access shelves there are 240 prints of the Anchor Works from a 1986 photographic survey that documents the buildings with the machinery removed, as well as the exteriors. There are also 40 photographs recording details of the interior and exterior. In addition, there are 25 photographic copies of drawings of the whole site and 20 aerial photographs from 1992.

Useful web sites:
www.Paisley.org.uk
www.Victoriana.com (for information about Paisley Shawls)
www.thephoenixtrust.org.uk

Principal floor plan

View from west.

View from east.

The entrance hall.

The drawing room.

The dining room.

View from west.

Cortachy in Angus has belonged to the Ogilvy family, Earls of Airlie, for 500 years. However, while the castle incorporates a sixteenth-century tower-house on its south side - shown on the right in the plan - it was progressively enlarged in the nineteenth-century. The sharp contrast in the work of Richard and Robert Dickson circa 1820, for the 8th Earl, and David Bryce in 1872-74, for the 10th, represents a fundamental shift in the knowledge and understanding of old Scottish buildings within that time.

The Dicksons' work is in Tudor rather than Scottish style since their scholarship was based on John Britton's The Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain (1805-21), which primarily illustrated English subjects. The characteristics of native work were not appreciated, so they altered the tower-house externally to marry with their own designs, which were more domestic than defensive in appearance; some of their window-sashes rose into pointed arches, and the rhythm of their battlements concealing low-raked roofs was widely spaced. Apart from the detail of the porch for their remodelled west entrance elevation, there are no significant drawings in the Airlie muniments, and this, together with the irregular appearance of the east front, might imply that they completed their work only gradually - certainly by 1829, when it was engraved by J.P. Neale.

By then the novels of Walter Scott and the visit of George IV to Edinburgh in 1822 had awoken a sense of national identity and a romantic spirit focused particularly on the Highlands. Improved transport links allowed Victoria and Albert to undertake the Highland Tour which resulted in the construction of Balmoral. Most importantly in architectural terms, William Burn funded John Britton's nephew, Robert William Billings, to write The Baronial and Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland (1845-52), providing a source-book of Scottish style.

In 1867-68, the 10th Earl commissioned the English architect Philip Webb to enlarge Cortachy again, but although he redecorated the library, Holly and Hawthorn Rooms, his extension proposals were rejected. By 1870 the Earl had approached David Bryce, Burn's partner and successor to his Scottish practice, for new designs.

Bryce extended the house by adding a Scottish baronial block to the north-west (bottom left on the plan), which partly concealed and superseded as the entrance front the Dicksons' Tudor west elevation, but left the tower-house almost undisturbed to form a recessed wing with an arcaded terrace overlooking a two-sided court.

The baronial elevation's composition - a central frontage framed by end-bays rising into crowstepped gables and spired turrets - almost certainly derived from the original main block of Taymouth Castle, demolished in 1801, but recorded in William Adam's Vitruvius Scoticus (published 1812). In the detailing, however, such as the string and corbel courses identifying the principal and bedroom floor-levels, Billings' influence was much in evidence.

The new block also resulted in an extension of the east elevation. Rather than continue the Dicksons' idiom on that side, Bryce partly remodelled their work in a different Tudor style with mullioned and transomed windows, closer-spaced battlements and steeply pitched roofs, to help ease the transition to his baronial work at the northern end. From within the centre of the house a square tower rose 22 metres high.

Inside, the plan was typical of Burn-Bryce houses: on the first floor, the drawing room - an "L"-shaped apartment within the tower-house - linked en suite through the library to the dining room and its adjacent servery in the north-west block, the neo-Jacobean interiors being similar to those of Auchterhouse, which once belonged to the Ogilvies. The remainder of the north-west wing at this level accommodated the Earl and Countess' private suite, while the second and attic floors accommodated bedrooms principally for children, guests and woman-servants. The ground floor was given over to services but also provided a chapel and a gentlemen's retreat.

In September 1883, a fire seriously damaged Bryce's work, and while the north-west block was restored by his pupil, Charles Kinnear, the tower was not rebuilt. In the 1950s this block was removed by Philip Tilden in a radical reconstruction which also involved adapting the Tudor elevations into a Scottish vernacular form. RCAHMS' collections contain drawings in the Dick Peddie & McKay and Watherston Collections relating to the post-fire reconstruction, an extensive collection of photographs and postcards showing the castle as completed by Bryce and as it is now, together with photographs of the estate buildings and grounds.

Souvenir album cover of
cigarette cards.

The Atlantic Restaurant.

Atlantic Restaurant floor
plans.

The ICI Pavilion with the
Tower of Empire in the
background.

Council for Art and
Industry. Country House
designed by Basil Spence.

'Jungle Family', sculpture
of orang-utan family by
Benno Elkan, London.

Statue at the Pavilion of
Art.

By the nineteenth-century, the promotion of new ideas and products at fairs and shows had long been established. However, it was The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations held in the Crystal Palace, London, in 1851 that set the precedence for grand scale international exhibitions that continued for more than 150 years.

In 1888, Glasgow launched the first of five great exhibitions that the city would host between 1888 and 1988. The first three, 1888, 1901 and 1911, were held in Kelvingrove Park and were relatively small affairs in comparison to the Empire Exhibition of 1938. Despite the economic depression of the 1920s and 30s and the threat of the Second World War, the Empire Exhibition was to be 'the most elaborate and extravagant exhibition ever held in Britain'. 1

That Glasgow should host the exhibition was entirely fitting. Known as the 'Second City of the Empire', it had a strong tradition of industry, shipbuilding and engineering and a vibrant and creative cultural life. Set just south of the heart of the city, Bellahouston Park provided 175 acres of exhibition space, more than 100 acres larger than the Kelvingrove site.

Thomas Tait, one of Scotland's foremost inter-war architects, was enlisted as architect-in-chief along with a team of nine architects, including, T W Marwick, Esme Gordon, Basil Spence and Margaret Brodie.

Tait and his team had just over eighteen months from sketch plan to completion to create an exhibition of international scale that embodied the core objectives. Namely, to promote the British Empire's commitment to progress and education; to demonstrate the United Kingdom's, and specifically Scotland's progress and resources; to encourage international trade and to emphasise the need for mutual understanding and co-operation between nations.

Despite the complex demands of the exhibition, Tait's plan was surprisingly simple. The two largest buildings, the Palace of Engineering and the Palace of Industry, were set on the largest plots available. These were connected by two of the three main axes, the Dominons and Colonial Avenues, which were flanked by Empire pavilions. The United Kingdom Pavilion by Herbert Rowse dominated the third main axis, the King's Way. This ran north of the Palace of Industries and connected to the Scottish Avenue where the North and South Scottish Pavilions by Tait, Spence and R Mervyn Noad were sited. Closing the east vista of the Scottish Avenue was the Palace of Art by Launcelot H Ross.

Dominating the whole exhibition was 'The Tower of Empire'. Designed by Thomas Tait, the tower was 300 foot high and had three observation balconies, each capable of carrying 200 people. Erected on the summit of the hill in the very centre of Bellahouston Park, visitors could walk from it to any part of the grounds in less than 10 minutes.

In total more than 100 diverse sites had to be designed, including a post office, model allotment, Highland Village with Chief's Castle, cinema, dance hall, grand staircase, fun fair, fountains, a cascade and a lake. There were also 13 Empire Pavilions, numerous private pavilions and a full sized ideal modern house designed by Basil Spence. T W Marwick's, Atlantic Restaurant, modeled on an ocean liner, and unveiled by King George VI in 1937 to launch the exhibition, was just one of 20 restaurants, milk bars and snack bars included in the scheme.

The varied and diverse nature of the project meant Tait had to keep tight control of the whole project in order to create a homogenous style. Consequently, all the collaborators were obliged to submit their designs to him for final approval.

Many of the private exhibitors were keen to equal the architectural excellence of Tait's plan and key architects were commissioned to design their pavilions. ICI, the Empire's largest chemical producer, commissioned Basil Spence. The result was a striking modernist building with three soaring embossed pylons representing earth, air and water, the raw materials of the chemical industry. In the centre of these was a 200 foot beam of light representing the fourth element, fire and a fountain coloured by light, which represented the company's dyestuffs.

An important role of the exhibition was to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of Empire culture. To this end there were a number of exhibits dedicated to the arts including, The 'Orangutan Family' sculpture by Benno Elkan The Palace of Art and the Concert Hall, where leading orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic had been engaged to perform.

The Empire Exhibition opened on May 3rd 1938 and closed on August 29th of the same year. It cost more than 10 million pounds and attracted almost 13 million visitors. Getting to and from the exhibition was possible by road, rail, air and sea; daily sailings from London and other southern ports direct to Glasgow were available. Sadly, the Palace of Art is the only remaining sign of the exhibition that still exists. However, because Tait was careful not to cut down a single tree during its construction, Bellahouston Park quickly reverted to its original state.

RCAHMS holds 130 contemporary press photographs, copies of John Summerson's photographs taken before the opening of the exhibition, photographic copies of a souvenir album of cigarette cards, exhibition drawings, and models. There are also bibliographic references available in the public search room.

The character of this unusual Arts and Crafts style house came about through close collaboration between client, architect and craftsman. In 1905, Lord Carmichael - enthusiastic traveller and Governor of Bengal - commissioned renowned architect Robert Lorimer to design a hillside mansion near the Border's village of Skirling. When the scheme proved to be too costly, Lorimer designed a smaller house for the Lord in the English Domestic style. This was also abandoned for reasons unknown, but may have been the result of a general waning of interest in the style by this time. The main elevations of this second scheme are shown here, with characteristically staggered eaves to the front, and long uninterrupted eaves to the rear. The NMRS holds a number of Lorimer drawings for both of these unexecuted projects.

Lord Carmichael then chose Ramsay Traquair, a colleague of Lorimer and son of renowned Scottish artist Phoebe Traquair, as his architect. Traquair remodelled a group of existing eighteenth century farm buildings beside the village green to create the house that exists today. Its harled walls and slate roof are typically Scottish, while its large expanses of astragalled windows and weather-boarded upper storey suggest the influence of the English south coast. The style also hints at ideas Traquair would later develop following his emigration to Canada, where he became a well-established architect and university professor. The drawing room was designed to incorporate an impressive Florentine ceiling with individually carved and painted roses dating from 1590, and a built in wall cabinet with delicate inlay work by Scarselli of Florence.

According to anecdotal evidence, Lord Carmichael was much inspired by the outsized ironwork lilies and tulips adorning the seventeenth century gates at nearby Traquair House. Consequently, Ramsay Traquair (connected to Traquair House in name only) employed Thomas Hadden, a working blacksmith closely affiliated with Lorimer, to provide the wrought iron work for Skirling House. Interestingly, Hadden's iron gates for nearby Skirling churchyard also incorporated elongated replicas of the Traquair House tulips. With both Traquair and Hadden working in his house, Lord Carmichael's interest developed into something of an obsession, resulting in an abundance of ironwork throughout the house and garden. Inside, each door and window latch, lock and handle is individually designed, often with an animal theme. Outside, Traquair House style lilies and tulips sprout up in the garden and pig, rabbit and dog-shaped boot scrapers stand beside the doors. There is an imaginative weathervane with the devil looming over the world and a heavy lantern with a twisting lizard hangs near the entrance. Lord Carmichael's passion for travel is reflected in decorative elephant, panther and crocodile motifs on walls and railings. The inspiration for all the dragons and little men with pointy hats is less clear.

As mentioned before, Hadden's name was associated principally with the work of Lorimer. Their collaboration, spanning more than thirty years, sought to revitalise traditional Scottish ironwork styles, producing the flowing shapes that Lorimer suggested and Hadden experimented with and refined. Examples of their most elaborate output include the highly ornate screen of the Thistle Chapel in the High Kirk on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, and the steel casket for the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle. These prestigious commissions are testament to Hadden's mastery of his craft and provide an interesting contrast to the light-hearted, idiosyncratic work seen at Skirling House.

RCAHMS holds over 100 colour and black and white photographs of the interior and exterior of Skirling House as well as various material relating to the ironwork produced by Hadden in association with Robert Lorimer.