east lothian survey of gardens & designed …orapweb.rcahms.gov.uk/wp/00/wp003811.pdf · east...
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THE GARDEN HISTORY SOCIETY IN SCOTLAND
EAST LOTHIAN SURVEY OF GARDENS & DESIGNED LANDSCAPES
RECORDING FORM
A. GENERAL SITE INFORMATION (Expand boxes as necessary)
SITE NAME:
Invereil House
ALTERNATIVE NAMES OR SPELLINGS:
None
ADDRESS AND POSTCODE:
Private ownership
GRID REFERENCE:
NT 5257 8517
LOCAL AUTHORITY:
East Lothian (Historical County Haddingtonshire)
PARISH:
Dirleton
INCLUDED IN AN INVENTORY OF GARDENS & DESIGNED LANDSCAPES IN
SCOTLAND:
No
TYPE OF SITE: (e.g. Landscaped estate, private garden, public park/gardens,
corporate/institutional landscape, cemetery, allotments, or other – please specify)
Private garden and woodland
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SITE OWNERSHIP & CONTACT: (Where site is in divided ownership please list all
owners and indicate areas owned on map if possible)
The original 10-acre estate at Invereil was feued from part of Linkhouse Wood by John
Laidlay in 1897. By 1993 it was subdivided under four owners sharing access to Dirleton
Road:
1. Invereil House, outbuildings, landscaped garden and woodland with a shared access
avenue to Dirleton Road. Includes a 30 yard buffer zone of rough ground between the
golf links and the north boundary wall.
2. Former coach house and stable with accommodation for a chauffeur, converted to a
single dwelling house in garden ground with a shared access avenue to Dirleton Road.
3. Gate lodge on Dirleton Road.
4. Walled garden surrounded by woodland policies with a shared access avenue to
Dirleton Road.
All currently in private ownership.
SIZE IN HECTARES OR ACRES:
1. Invereil House and garden 1.5 hectares (3.73 acres)
2. Former coach house, stable and garden ground 0.55 hectares (1,53 acres)
3. Gate lodge and garden on Dirleton Road 0.04 hectares (0.1 acre)
4. Walled garden circa 0.4 hectares (1 acre) and circa 1.6 hectares (4 acres)
PUBLIC ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS/OPENING TIMES (If any):
None
NATIONAL & LOCAL AUTHORITY DESIGNATIONS: (e.g. Conservation Area,
Green Belt, Tree Preservation Order(s), Nature Conservation Area, etc.
Linkhouse Wood in which Invereil is located has not been surveyed by East Lothian
Council. There are no Tree Preservation Orders, nor is it a Nature Conservation Area.
LISTED STRUCTURES:
Invereil House, Dirleton Road Category B Listed. 7 December 1988 Ref: HB4838 http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2200:15:0::::BUILDING,HL:4838,Invereil
Invereil Lodge, Quadrant Walls and Gate Piers Category C Listed. 7 December 1988 Ref:
HB1524 http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2200:15:0::::BUILDING,HL:1524,Invereil
Invereil Coach-house Category C Listed. 7 December 1988 Ref: HB1523 http://data.historic-
scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2200:15:0::::BUILDING,HL:1523,Invereil
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B. HISTORICAL SURVEY INFORMATION: MAPPED,
DOCUMENTARY & PUBLISHED SOURCES MAPPED SOURCES: (please list maps below in date order and attach copies where
possible. Give the description or title, date, maker’s name if known, and for Ordnance
Survey maps give the date of survey, edition number and sheet number)
Unless otherwise stated all map images are reproduced by kind permission of the Trustees of the
National Library of Scotland
Roy Military Survey of Scotland (Lowlands circa1755) showing Linkhouse and Ferrygate Farms © British Library Board. All Rights Reserved
http://maps.nls.uk/geo/roy/#zoom=15&lat=56.05441&lon=-2.7588&layers=0B000000TTT
Map of Haddingtonshire (William Forrest 1802) showing crescent-shaped Linkhouse Wood
http://maps.nls.uk/view/74400256#zoom=5&lat=7478&lon=9909&layers=BT
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Ordnance Survey First Edition Six Inch to One Mile
Haddingtonshire Sheet 2 Surveyed 1853, Published 1854
http://maps.nls.uk/view/74426935#zoom=6&lat=3902&lon=5808&layers=BT
Ordnance Survey Second & Later Editions 25 Inch to One Mile Haddingtonshire
Sheet 002.11 Revised circa1893, Published 1894 http://maps.nls.uk/view/82885011#zoom=4&lat=8050&lon=2952&layers=BT
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Ordnance Survey Second & Later Editions 25 Inch to One Mile Haddingtonshire
Sheet 002.11 Revised circa1906, Published 1907 http://maps.nls.uk/view/82885014#zoom=4&lat=8332&lon=2152&layers=BT
Ordnance Survey Second & Later Editions 25 inch to One Mile Haddingtonshire
Sheet 002.11 Revised circa1938, Published 1945 [in outline only as the revision survey
documents were lost during enemy action in World War II]. http://maps.nls.uk/view/82885017#zoom=4&lat=8325&lon=2280&layers=BT
See illustration in Section 5. VIEWS, VISTAS etc
Bacon, G W (Ed.) (1907), Popular Atlas of the British Isles, (Bacon. London)
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PRIMARY & DOCUMENTARY SOURCES: (plans, manuscript documents and other
estate records) Please list material consulted in date order and attach copies where
possible. Give description of material, and location and reference number of archival
holding.
For J E Laidlay. Plan, sections and elevations [of Invereil House]. Dick Peddie & McKay
(12/1897) Dick Peddie Archive (RCAHMS DPM 1890/84/1).
For J E Laidlay. Plan, sections and elevations [of Invereil House], including Ordnance
survey map of area. Dick Peddie & McKay (6/1898) Dick Peddie Archive (RCAHMS
DPM 1890/84/2).
For J E Laidlay. Details of boudoir, entrance door, and principal staircase. General plan
of Mr Laidlay’s feu. Plan, sections and elevations of [Invereil] gate lodge, including
details. Dick Peddie & McKay (2/1899) Dick Peddie Archive (RCAHMS DPM
1890/84/4).
For J E Laidlay and later for Graham Wright. Drainage plans. Plans of alterations and
additions [at Invereil House]. Dick Peddie & McKay (3/1906) Dick Peddie Archive
(RCAHMS DPM 1890/84/5).
Gate Lodge Dirleton. Detail of front gate [for Invereil House]. Dick Peddie & McKay
(1898) Dick Peddie Archive (RCAHMS DP002945).
Register of Sasines (RS) (National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh)
Valuation Rolls (VR) (National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh)
HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS & PICTORIAL SOURCES: (drawings, paintings,
photographs, aerial photographs etc. Include type, subject, artist, source or reference
location, and date if known)
Darling, H M (22/8/1904) Country House [Photograph] Album (RCAHMS PA 78/27/2)
20 July 1940, RAF Second World War Aerial Reconnaissance B&W oblique aerial
image, near Invereil House East Lothian, facing S. (RCAHMS 006-004-003-015-C)
19 June 1941, RAF Second World War Aerial Reconnaissance B&W vertical aerial
image, near Ferrygate Dirleton East Lothian [Scale 1:18000]. (RCAHMS 006-004-003-
587-C)
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Rose Beds in Front of the South Façade (Darling 1904, RCAHMS PA 78/27/2) © RCAHMS
The Walled Garden in 1970 with Sundial, Glasshouses and Brick Pillars of Former Pergola
(Private Collection)
1970 Private collection, 35mm colour transparencies of walled garden.
07 June 1988, All Scotland Survey colour vertical aerial image near Hummel Ridges,
North Berwick East Lothian [Scale 1:24000]. (RCAHMS 006-005-000-995-C)
Google Earth (2006).
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BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PUBLISHED SOURCES: (Statistical Accounts, Gazetteers,
Directories, Travel Accounts etc.). Please list publications consulted in alphabetical
order. Complete details of author, title, journal or periodical, and date, volume/edition
and page numbers where relevant.
Bacon, G W (Ed.) (1907), Popular Atlas of the British Isles, Bacon. London
Census 1901 and 1911 www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
Dictionary of Scottish Architects 1840–1980 (DSA) www.scottisharchitects.org.uk
Hall, D & Bowler, D, North Berwick, East Lothian: its archaeology revisited. Proc Soc
Antiq Scot, 127 (1997), 659–75.
Historic Scotland http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk
Jekyll, G (1914), Wood and Garden, Longman, p.214.
Kenneth Ryden and Partners (1985) Invereil House, by Dirleton, North Berwick, East
Lothian: [sale particulars], Edinburgh (RCAHMS D.7.13.INV.S)
Knight Frank and Rutley (1992) Invereil House, by Dirleton, North Berwick, East
Lothian: [sale particulars], Edinburgh. (RCAHMS D.7.13.INV.S)
Knight Frank and Strutt & Parker (2011) Invereil House, by Dirleton, North Berwick,
East Lothian: [sale particulars], Edinburgh.
McWilliam, C (1978), Buildings of Scotland: Lothian, Yale.
Mosley, Charles (Ed.) (2003) Burke’s Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage 107th
ed.
Wilmington accessed via www.thepeerage.com.
http://www.northberwick.org.uk/laidlay.html.
http://www.northberwick.org.uk/walks_2.html.
PRINCIPAL PERIODS OF DEVELOPMENT:
See Section D Summary History of the Site
PRINCIPAL ARCHITECTS/DESIGNERS ASSOCIATED WITH SITE: (please
reference source of information)
(Source: Dictionary of Scottish Architects and Dick Peddie Archive)
1897 George Washington Browne and 1897–9 http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=200049 to build Invereil, the coach-house and gate lodge for JOHN F S LAIDLAY, who would
have been familiar with the recent work of these architectural firms in their various
incarnations
Kinnear & Dick Peddie 1890 http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=202322
Peddie & Washington Browne 1895 at North Berwick Golf Club, and Dick Peddie &
Washington Browne 1896 at Milton Lodge in Abbotsford Road)
http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=200363
1906 Dick Peddie & McKay carried out alterations for JOHN LAIDLAY.
1920 James S Richardson of Richardson & McKay carried out alterations for the new
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owner, GRAHAM WRIGHT http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=200932
ORAL RECORDS/REMINISCENSES Please include a list of any people interviewed
during the course of research/survey work. Include name and role of interviewee (e.g.
family member, former employee, local resident), date of conversation and major dates,
features or events recalled. Attach a transcript of the conversation if possible:
The proprietor of Invereil House, the surrounding landscaped garden, and part of
Linkhouse Wood (interviewed 20 April 2013):
Having purchased West Invereil House and East Invereil House in 1993, he returned the
two wings to a single mansion house, but has retained their separate services. From the
first floor Living Room it was possible to see the outstanding views to the north. On a
tour of the garden he pointed out a long curved ridge on the lawn, which marks the site of
the original carriage drive between the coach house and the mansion house. He also
recounted a local legend which says the ground now occupied by the garden of Invereil
was an assembly area for pilgrims sailing from the Broad Sands to Earlsferry and,
ultimately, to St Andrews in Fife. This is supported by the name of the nearby farm,
Ferrygate – (For source see ANY OTHER FEATURES NOT INCLUDED ABOVE)
The proprietor of the policies, paddock and walled garden (interviewed 26 June 2013):
He spent holidays with his grandmother, ARMORER, COUNTESS of BREADALBANE
in Invereil House in the 1950s and 1960s and recalled how attractive the walled garden
and rhododendron and azalea walk had been then when they were looked after by a single
gardener (BILL LOCKIE). When the mansion house was sold in 1969, he moved to the
coach house, which he sold in 1993 to a local doctor. He pointed out some original
features in the now very overgrown walled garden like the 7-foot high brick columns
which he remembered supporting roses on wooden trellises. These are similar to the
pergola with stone columns and overhead rustic boughs illustrated in Gertude Jekyll,
Wood and Garden which was first published in 1899, the year Invereil was completed.
He also found traces of what he remembered as an attractive water feature in the 1980s.
This was a narrow canal which ran from the south lawn of Invereil House towards the
walled garden, into a small lozenge-shaped lily pond which had a stone heron in the
middle. The water tap which fed this feature from the house still functions but only the
heron’s feet remain guarding the overgrown pool. Traces of a stone-terraced Primula bed
can also be seen along the east side of the canal.
C. SITE SURVEY Use map provided to mark positions and boundaries. Take
photographs where possible.
ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS Note the materials used, the dates and styles of
various phases of development, and category of listing if appropriate
PRINCIPAL HOUSE OR BUILDING:
Invereil House
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Invereil House
A 3-storey and attic building. The roof is of blue slate roof. The walls are built mainly
from locally quarried red trachyte Rattlebags rubble, snecked and coursed, with dressings
of smooth red sandstone, which may also have been quarried locally [source unknown].
The initials of the first owner and date of completion [JEL 1899] are on stone plaque high
on the S façade while above the main entrance at the W end is a stone carved with the
floral, and national, motifs of thistle, rose and shamrock.
The main entrance leads by a wide staircase up to the principal rooms which are located
at first floor level in the west and centre of the house. A large bracketed balcony with
balusters spans two windows and a French door in the Living Room with a view south
towards the walled garden. A smaller doorway at ground floor level at the east end of the
south façade leads through a corbelled turret to the projecting servants’ wing.
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Thistle, Rose & Shamrock Doorway to the Servants’ Wing
over the Main Entrance
Window and Balcony Detail Including 1899 Datestone on the South Façade
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Timber sash and case windows (6 over 1) light the larger rooms, while the windows in
the service rooms have mainly 6 over 6 small panes. A single bay projecting west and
recessed from the south façade houses a Billiard Room with a Drawing Room above on
the first floor which has windows providing panoramic views to the north and west. The
north façade is more symmetrical than the south as the projecting gable of the Drawing
Room wing is balanced by the Morning Room. Each wing has a corbelled turret in the re-
entrant angle. The north-facing windows and small first-floor balcony off the Living
Room turret give panoramic views of Lamb and Fidra Islands (with its Stevenson
lighthouse), and of the Firth of Forth and Fife coast in the distance. From here LAIDLAY
and his sister Faith (both champion golfers) would also have had a grand stand view of
the links just beyond the north boundary wall.
Balcony and First Floor Windows with Views to the North and West
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View of the Golf Links, Fidra Lighthouse and the Fife Coast Beyond
OFFICES (stables, outbuildings, etc):
Stable/coach house (Arts & Crafts).
Coach House and Stables
Modern gym/sauna (in an original outbuilding).
Garages (Modern).
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HOME FARM OR MAINS:
None
BOUNDARIES (External & internal; estate walls, ha-has, park fences etc.):
The original policies had a rubble wall varying in height from 6 feet to 9 feet with
capstones. The north face is now bowing outwards and the lime mortar is missing in
many places. Remedial work is urgently required to avoid collapse. Where the wall is at
its highest, the upper 6 feet are of un-coursed Rattlebags rubble while the lower 3 feet are
of un-coursed mixed fieldstones, which include some very dark red sandstone. This break
in continuity suggests that an existing farm boundary wall was heightened. [The square
steading and horse gin gang at Link House Farm are shown in ruins in the 1853 Ordnance
Survey map.] Laidlay had two doorways built into the north boundary wall to give easy
access to the 8th
fairway of the golf course, where he is said to have played every day.
[Metal cups for practicing putting can still be found in the north lawn.] The narrow and
simple east door, which also gave pedestrian access to Abbotsford Road and North
Berwick, is in poor condition while the west door, tall and wide enough for a horse and
rider, has dressed red sandstone facings and ball finials.
Servants’ Pedestrian Access to North Berwick
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Horse & Pedestrian Access Door to Golf Links and Beach
The surrounding stonework is in good condition, although the door has recently been
repaired externally with a plywood sheet. The 1.27-acre western extension of the policies
into Linkhouse Wood (by JOHNSTON in 1993) is bounded by wire fencing and
immature Corsican and Monterey pine trees (RS1993-1-25 269/8). Mature pollarded
beech forms a hedge along the S side of the access avenue by the Eel Burn.
GATES/GATE LODGES:
Lodge Category C listed:
A single-storey symmetrical three-bay building by Peddie & Washington Browne in Arts
& Crafts rustic style (1898) which, along with the coach house and stables, contrasts with
the Scottish Baronial style of the main house of the same date. The lodge is externally
unchanged since it was first completed, apart from the addition of a small extension to the
rear. The piend roof with swept eaves is of blue slate [source unknown] with two
centrally located chimneys of red brick with moulded coping (one harled). The west
elevation has small-paned casement windows and a depressed arched doorway with
moulded upper surround and a door with a small-paned upper panel. As at Invereil
House, the lodge is built from locally quarried red trachyte [volcanic] Rattlebags rubble,
snecked and coursed, with dressings of red sandstone ashlar, which may also have been
quarried locally [source unknown].
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Gate Lodge, Quadrant Piers and Original, Carved Wooden Gate Posts
The Cleft Chestnut Fencing is Recent.
Gate Lodge Leading to an Avenue of Sycamores
Quadrants and piers: ashlar coped, Rattlebag quadrant and circular piers with conical
caps and ball finials: main entrance to the south on Dirleton Road. The present
proprietors both remember wooden gates in ruinous condition in the 1990s which were
similar to but lower than those designed in three sections for Invereil by Dick Peddie &
McKay in 1898.
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Design for Front Gate by Dick Peddie & McKay, 1898 (RCAHMS DP002945) © RCAHMS
The low gates are now missing but the wooden gateposts with their carved finials survive (2013)
GARDEN BUILDINGS (Summer houses, view houses, temples, grottoes etc):
Recent square wooden summer house elevated on a three-foot terrace W of the house to
give views to the golf links and coast over the north boundary wall.
CHAPELS/MAUSOLEUMS/BURIAL GROUNDS:
None
CONSERVATORIES/FERNERIES:
None
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GARDEN STATUARY (Fountains, statues, sundials, monuments etc.) Note any
inscriptions:
Older features, possibly original:
A sundial (seen in 1970 image, but now missing) stood in the walled garden at the centre
of the cruciform arrangement of brick columns which may have supported a pergola.
Brick Piers Which May Have Supported a Pergola as Shown by Gertrude Jekyll
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Design for a Brick and Oak Pergola (Jekyll 1914, first published 1899)
Only the feet remain of a stone heron which stood on a rock in the centre of a small
lozenge-shaped pool north of the walled garden.
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Heron’s Feet in Pool Beside Terraced Primula Bed
Features installed since 1993 include various stone and metal nymphs, birds and a
fountain.
BURIAL GROUNDS/CEMETERIES (Note principal memorials and headstones with
inscriptions where possible):
None
BRIDGES:
The avenue is carried over the Eel Burn on a simple flat bridge of unknown date.
TERRACES (Including steps & stairways):
Post-1993
Originally a level garden, a platform around three feet high was made west of Invereil
House on which a modern square summer house was constructed to give views over the
boundary wall to the golf links and the Firth of Forth beyond.
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Summer House Raised to Give Views of Golf Links and Beach
WALLED GARDENS (Including potting sheds, bothies, glasshouse ranges etc.):
A sub-rectangular garden of just under 1 acre is shown complete with glasshouses (maker
unknown), brick boiler room and gardener’s shed on the 1906 Ordnance Survey map.
They may date from circa 1899, contemporary with the completion of Invereil House.
The 8-foot high hard, bright red brick garden walls have recently collapsed in several
places under fallen trees and the entire garden is overgrown with nettles and inaccessible
in summer. A mature sycamore tree now stands within the foundations of the glasshouses
but the boiler room still has a ruinous iron boiler in situ against the outer side of the north
wall, beside a brick gardener’s shed. There were three single wooden doors into the
walled garden, north, south and east. The last has disappeared in a wall collapse. A water
supply was piped from Invereil House.
The corrugated iron potting shed which lies against the original boundary of the policies
north-west of the walled garden is still in use. It may date from circa 1899, contemporary
with the house.
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Remains of the South-Facing Glasshouse Range in the Walled Garden
Early Potting Shed North-West of the Walled Garden
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AVENUES, CARRIAGE DRIVES, ORNAMENTAL WALKS, SERVICE DRIVES
ETC:
Carriage drives:
The only carriage access to Invereil House and the coach house (stables) was and is by a
narrow avenue from Dirleton Road. Initially, the avenue runs north from the gate lodge
through arable land (which is in other ownership), lined on each side with a single row of
mature sycamore trees, probably planted in 1898–9. After crossing the Eel Burn by a flat
bridge, the drive curves east through dense and possibly ‘ancient’ mixed woodland
around the walled kitchen garden, passing the coach house, which lies against the east
boundary of the estate, finally arriving dramatically on the gravel sweep at the main
entrance on the previously hidden south façade of Invereil House. Originally a narrow
carriage drive also ran inside the north boundary wall from the coach house to the east
end of the mansion house, but its course is now barely visible as a curving grassy bank in
the north lawn (interview current proprietor).
Former Carriage Drive From the Stables (Right) to Invereil House (Extreme Right)
The carriage drive may have fallen out of use as early as 1905 when the family acquired a
motor car which would have been garaged at the east end of Invereil House rather than in
the coach house. JAMES TURNBULL was described in 1901 as a coachman living the
coach house with his family (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk 31/03/1901 Laidlay, John Earnest
[Census 1901 705 001/00 008]) but by 1905 they had been replaced there by a chauffeur,
WILLIAM SMITH and his family (VR99/24/28).
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ROCKERIES:
None
WATER FEATURES (natural & man-made including rivers, cascades, lochs, pools
etc.):
It is not known if the narrow canal running from the south lawn of Invereil House to a
small lozenge-shaped lily pond near the north door of the walled garden is original (circa
1898–9) or was constructed around 1938 when the Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Primulas
were thought to have been planted by the Hutchinsons (interview current proprietor).
Although a tapped water supply from the house to the canal, pond and walled garden is
available, the canal is dry pond and only the stone heron’s feet remain on a rock in the
middle of the overgrown pond.
Modern (post-1993)
At the east end of the north lawn is a lily pond with a central bowl and fountain
[overgrown, and gated for safety with a post and wire fence]. In the extension to the
garden west of the original boundary wall a duck pond has been created.
ANY OTHER FEATURES NOT INCLUDED ABOVE (Include any historic or modern
feature and indicate past or current use where possible):
As a child in the 1860s, Robert Louis Stevenson spent holidays at North Berwick with his
cousin Charles and one of their favourite play areas was Longskelly Point and Broad
Sands where the Eel [or Eil] Burn entered the sea. The Eel Burn then lay a mile west of
the end of the golf links but today it cuts through the 7th
and 12th
fairways and is an
integral part of the course. Calling it the Cressy Burn, Stevenson placed his characters
David Balfour and Alan Breck here when they reached the coast in his novel Catriona
(1893). He borrowed from the local scenery in Treasure Island (1883) too, using
Yellowcraig as a model for ‘Spy-glass Hill’ and offering readers a map of his island in
the first edition in which they might well have recognised the familiar horseshoe outline
of Fidra. While the lighthouse was being built by the engineering company founded by
his grandfather, Stevenson and his father landed several times on Fidra to witness
progress in the construction. It was completed in 1885 and automated in 1970. Fidra is
now owned by the RSPB and home to a small population of guillemots, razorbills,
herring gulls and puffins.
PLANTED ELEMENTS: The garden or park should divide up naturally and
historically into different areas, e.g. ornamental gardens, parkland, walled garden,
policy planting. Each area should be delineated on a plan and current use noted.
1. ORNAMENTAL GROUNDS
GRASSED AREAS (Lawns, meadows, terraces):
The lawns are level to the north and south of Invereil House while the one on the west is
raised by a three-foot terrace.
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FLOWER BEDS (Indicate theme or type – parterres, perennial herbaceous
border/annual bedding where possible. Note whether significant plant collection):
1899 planting:
Rose beds seen in a postcard circa 1904 are no longer in evidence.
Circa 1938 planting:
The location of a terraced bed of rare Primulas was traced but there were very few plants
in evidence (interview current proprietor).
Recent planting (since 1993):
There is a very fine long and deep herbaceous border of perennials against the north
boundary wall, mainly replacing roses. Annual bedding has been planted elsewhere in
narrow beds along the edges of lawns.
SHRUBBERY INCLUDING HEDGES & TOPIARY (Include details of height, species
etc. if possible):
Circa1938 planting:
Avenue of rare Rhododendrons and Azaleas planted north-west of the walled garden by
LORD and LADY HUTCHISON [proprietors 1938–48] but now almost lost (personal
communication current proprietor).
Rare Rhododendrons and Azaleas From the 1930s
Recent planting (since 1993):
Low box hedges trimmed to 1 foot edge the grassed areas south and east of the house.
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Yews trimmed to 8-foot pillars run in four parallel lines in the ornamental garden area
east of the house.
Recently Planted Yew Pillars
ORNAMENTAL TREE PLANTING (Single specimens, groups, woodland gardens –
include details of age and species if possible):
Woodland gardens with Corsican and Monterey pine were used as a wind break on the
west side.
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Shelterbelt of 1890s and More Recent Corsican and Monterey Pine
A few of the late 1890s pines survive in poor condition but most have fallen or been
felled and replaced since 1993 with the same species. Mixed coniferous and deciduous
woodland elsewhere, particularly oak and sycamore.
From air photography and satellite imagery, Linkhouse Wood appears to have total tree
cover apart from the area cleared for the site of Invereil House itself with its lawn to the
north and west and the gravel sweep and small lawn to the south. Only the eastern half of
the walled garden is clear of trees (RAF 1940, Google Earth 2006).
AVENUE PLANTING (May also cross parkland and policy planting. Note predominant
species and whether single or double planted if possible:
Avenue planting within policies: (see SHRUBBERY above)
Carriage drive:
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The single planting of sycamores on either side of the avenue from Dirleton Road
running north to the Eel Burn probably dates from 1898–9. After bridging the Eel Burn,
the drive swings to the east around the walled garden, with a single line of beech trees
pollarded as a hedge to around 10 feet in height on the south side. Turning north again
past the coach house, the drive runs through dense mixed woodland until it reaches the
gravelled sweep and lawn in front of the south façade of Invereil House.
ANY OTHER ORNAMENTAL PLANTING FEATURE NOT COVERED ABOVE:
None
2. KITCHEN GARDENS AND ORCHARDS
KITCHEN GARDENS (walled, hedged or other boundary. Note any other historical
features and current use)
By 1906:
A 1 acre sub-rectangular kitchen garden walled in hard red brick was constructed,
possibly as early as 1899, in a clearance of mixed and possibly ‘ancient’ woodland south
of house and north and west of the main carriage drive. It had south-facing glasshouses
on the north wall while outside, behind the glasshouses, were a gardener’s shed and a
boiler room both built in the same red brick.
In 1940:
Aerial photographs show the northern end of the walled garden bisected north–south and
east–west by broad paths between brick columns in a cruciform arrangement. These are
in the style described by Gertrude Jekyll in Wood and Garden, first published in 1899,
the year Invereil was completed. Her illustration of a pergola with brick piers, linked
overhead by beams of rough oak, is reproduced here from the 1914 edition. Miss Jekyll
advised that ‘Ten feet from pier to pier along the path is a good proportion, or anything
from eight to ten feet, and they should stand seven feet two inches out of the ground.’
The Invereil columns are approximately of this height and stand around ten feet apart.
(OS 1906, RAF 1940, Jekyll 1914).
By 1938:
A narrow canal, lily pond and terraced primula bed are evident between the south lawn
and the walled garden. These may either be features from the original garden circa 1899,
which are simply not shown on the Ordnance Survey edition of 1906, or constructed by a
later owner. (Ordnance Survey 1938).
By the 1950s and 1960s:
The brick columns were linked horizontally by wooden trellises supporting roses
(interview current proprietor). It is not known if they were originally also linked overhead
with timber.
2013:
In strong contrast to the 1970 image in this report, the walled garden is overgrown, with
29
the walls mainly to full height but collapsed in places due to fallen trees. Internally the
brick columns stand but the glasshouses have collapsed. Externally, the brick gardeners’
shed and boiler room, still with its cast-iron boiler, are all ruinous.
ORCHARDS (walled, hedged or other boundary. Note any other historical features and
current use)
Post-1993
Apple trees planted in the 1993 extension of the garden westwards.
3. PARKLAND
GRASSED AREAS (Note current use, amenity grassland, agricultural use – grazing,
cultivation etc.):
None
TREE PLANTING (Individual specimens, clumps, belts, roundels etc. Note species if
possible, and whether fenced):
None
ANY OTHER PARKLAND FEATURE NOT INCLUDED ABOVE:
None
4. POLICY WOODLAND PLANTING
COMPOSITION (Note composition of woodland; deciduous/coniferous/mixed, and
principal species if possible. Note current use e.g. commercial timber cropping/amenity
woodland):
The woodland was specifically referred to for shooting in sales transactions and valuation
rolls: by LORD HUTCHISON in 1938 (RS1938-03-14 378/215) and (VR99/38/579VR)
in 1945/6.and by the EARL of BREADALBANE in 1948 (RS1948-04-17 415/171) and
(VR99/53/45) in 1955/6.
This mixed woodland, part of the ‘ancient’ Linkhouse Wood, is heavily overgrown and
not currently used for shooting.
ANY OTHER POLICY WOODLAND FEATURE NOT INCLUDED ABOVE:
None
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5. VIEWS, VISTAS, BORROWED LANDSCAPE & PERIPHERAL AREAS,
KEY VIEWS (please note views inwards to the house, outwards from the house and
internally within the landscape):
The borrowed landscape from the first and upper floors of the west and north sides of
Invereil House is a key to Laidlay’s choice of site for the house. This spectacular 180-
degree distant panorama runs from the Forth Railway Bridge west of Edinburgh, north by
way of the Fife coast, to the Isle of Mey, Fife Ness and the mouth of the Firth of Forth in
the east. The volcanic islands of the Bass Rock, Craigleith, Lamb and Fidra (with its
lighthouse) close to the East Lothian coast provide Invereil with an outstanding eye-
catching vista from the north-facing windows and the small first-floor balcony off the
Morning Room turret. The former pilgrim route from the Broad Sands by Ferrygate to
Earlsferry and on to St Andrews in Fife lies in full view of Invereil. The second key to
the choice of site was the links golf course, for Laidlay was a Champion Amateur Golfer
who played almost every day. The high north boundary wall which he built to give
privacy to his family had two gates through which he and his sister Faith, another expert
golfer, had immediate access to the 8th
fairway. Laidlay lived at Invereil for 20 years,
moving away only to live beside another noted golf course at Sunningdale in Berkshire.
Views and vistas from Invereil House clockwise from the left: Edinburgh and Leith, Forth Rail
Bridge, Fife coast, Isle of Mey, Bass Rock (based on Bacon, 1907)
Apart from the Billiard Room, the ground floor is mainly servants’ quarters from which
there is no view beyond the garden. The upper floors can be seen at a distance from the
golf links north of the high boundary wall. Google Earth imagery from 2006 shows that
Invereil House is totally screened by mature mixed woodland, except from the north, and
from space. This pattern was established in 1897 when only the areas of Linkhouse Wood
31
required for buildings and laying out the walled garden and lawns were cleared, with the
remainder of the wood being retained for shelter and recreational shooting.
Invereil Looking South From the Golf Links
BORROWED LANDSCAPE (please note any features, natural or man-made, lying
outside the designed landscape which act as eye-catchers or contribute to the outward
views)
See KEY VIEWS above.
PERIPHERAL AREAS (please note any features lying outside the main landscape but
which are clearly designed e.g. regularly spaced roadside/field boundary trees, estate
walls etc.):
The still-occupied cottages associated with Linkhouse Farm can be seen from the garden
to the east of the boundary wall. They are a reminder to the proprietors of Invereil that
Linkhouse Wood, which was partially cleared in 1897 to establish the estate, may well
have been planted in the 18th
century as shelter for the farm. The farmhouse and steading
are shown on the Roy map of around 1755 but recorded as ruins 100 years later
(Ordnance Survey 1853).
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Linkhouse Cottages, the Remnant of Linkhouse Farm
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON CURRENT CONDITION OR CARE OF THE
LANDSCAPE
Invereil House in its surrounding 4.73 acres has been for sale since 2011. A housekeeper
and gardener are currently employed. The house was well built and the fabric is in good
condition. The avenue from Dirleton Road, which is shared by the proprietors of the
former coach house and of the walled garden, is also well maintained. The north
boundary wall is bowing outwards in places and in need of pointing.
The former coach house and surrounding garden ground are in separate ownership and
well maintained.
The gate lodge and surrounding garden ground are in separate ownership and well
maintained.
The policies around the walled garden are also in separate ownership but overgrown.
Inside the walled garden the glasshouses have collapsed and the main walls partially
damaged in places by falling trees. The vertical brick columns of the pergola survive.
SURVEY DRAWINGS AND/OR PHOTOGRAPHS
Please include a list and copies where possible of any drawings, photographs made/taken
during the ground survey.
A selection of survey photographs is included in this document. A full set of photographs
taken in 2013/14 by RJ & BA Morris and also a private collection taken in 1970 by the
proprietor of the walled garden are available, together with a paper copy of this recording
form in the John Gray Centre, East Lothian Archives, Haddington. A digital record is
33
available on CANMORE (RCAHMS). Unless otherwise stated, all images are copyright
RJ & BA Morris
D. SUMMARY HISTORY OF THE SITE
This section should be set out in chronological form and should include information on
the way the site has developed and changed since it was first recorded, using dates and
maps where possible. The names of owners, architects or designers involved, and
relevant historical events should be recorded, and the sources noted.
Forrest’s survey of 1799 clearly indicates woodland at Yellow Craig, Ferrygate,
Carlekemp and Linkhouse. Although the last two are unnamed, the plantation on Dirleton
Common in the precise half-moon shape that persists to this day around Invereil House is
without doubt the eastern end of Linkhouse Wood. It is not known how ‘ancient’
Linkhouse Wood actually is although Prof. T C Smout, Historiographer Royal for
Scotland, thinks that pine, beech and sycamore were probably planted as shelter to the
west of Linkhouse in the 18th
century (personal communication). Linkhouse is marked in
the style of farm buildings on the Military Survey of Scotland (Roy 1755) and, although
there may have been woodland nearby, it is not specifically shown by Roy. Only the farm
cottages remained by 1853, when the main Linkhouse Farm steading is shown as ruins by
the Ordnance Survey. In 1893, the east end of Linkhouse Wood is still shown as intact by
the Ordnance Survey but, within 4 years, it would be partially cleared for the building of
Invereil.
1897–99
The east portion Linkhouse Wood (circa 10 acres) was feued from HENRY THOMAS
NISBET HAMILTON OGILVY of Archerfield and East Fenton by JOHN ERNEST
LAIDLAY, Champion Amateur Golfer born 1860 Seacliff House North Berwick, died
1940 Sunningdale Berks (http://www.northberwick.org.uk/laidlay.html). Partial clearance of
Linkhouse Wood was followed by construction of Invereil House, coach house (stables)
boundary walls and a walled garden of circa 1 acre. Also included in the feu was land for
a 30-yard buffer between the north boundary wall and the golf links.
An access strip through the arable and woodland was purchased from Ferrygate (Dirleton
Estate) for an avenue to Dirleton Road, where a gate lodge, quadrant and piers and a
wooden gate were constructed. Dick Peddie & McKay designed high wooden gates.
Although Invereil House is a visual stopping point at the west end of Abbotsford Road,
the only carriage access is via the gated avenue to the south on Dirleton Road. The two
doors in the north boundary wall which give access to Abbotsford Road are only for
pedestrians, or possibly horses.
1920
Invereil House and stables were purchased by JOHN GRAHAM WRIGHT, ship owner
and timber broker, Glasgow (RS1920-05-15). He commissioned plans for alterations to
the house by Richardson & McKay (Dick Peddie Archive). In 1920–21 the dwelling at
34
the stables was unoccupied (VR99/28/536). By 1925–6, JAMES PATON, the chauffeur
lived there (VR99/28/312) while JAMES LAW occupied the lodge. LAW had been
gardener since at least 1901 (Census 1901 705 001/00 008).
1926
Invereil House, offices, stable, lodge and land sold to NORA JANE CRAIG MILLAR
COLVILLE or PELHAM-BURN, wife of CAPT. JAMES RUSSELL PELHAM-BURN,
Seaforth Highlanders (RS1926-02-17). In 1930, JOHN REID was recorded as gardener
(VR99/31/21).
1938
Invereil House, stables, land, woodland and shootings were sold to LORD and LADY
HUTCHISON of London (RS1938-03-14 378/215 and RS1938-07-26 380/90). He was
Major-General Robert Hutchison, 1st and last Baron Hutchison of Montrose (1873–1950),
Member of Parliament for Kirkcaldy (1922–3) and Montrose (1924–32). They planted a
walk north-west of the walled garden with rare rhododendrons and azaleas, and possibly
also laid out the narrow canal leading from the south lawn to the lozenge-shaped lily
pond (interview current proprietor). By 1940, no resident gardener is recorded but a
chauffeur, CECIL MORRIS, was living in the house at the stables while RAF personnel
occupied the gate lodge (VR99/36/24). But, by 1945, CECIL MORRIS had become the
head gardener, living in the stables, while JOHN LORIMER, gardener was living in the
gate lodge (VR99/38/579). Traditionally, when Invereil employed two gardeners, the
head gardener lived in the stables and the under gardener in the lodge.
1948
Invereil House, stables, land, woodland and shootings were sold to the 9th
EARL of
BREADALBANE (1889–1959) (RS1948-04-17 415/171). His widow, ARMORER,
COUNTESS of BREADALBANE inherited. She died in 1987. By 1950, ANDREW
MACCORMICK was head gardener (stables) and JOHN WILSON under gardener
(lodge) (VR99/42/29). By 1955, WALTER WALCZEK was under gardener (lodge)
(VR99/53/45).
1960s-?
BILL LOCKIE, a brother of the Duke of Buccleuch’s head gardener at Bowhill, was the
single resident gardener (interview current proprietor).
1969
The estate was split into north and south sections. Invereil House and 3.46 acres of
surrounding landscape gardens on the north side were sold by HUGO ROMER
NICHOLSON (elder son of ARMORER, COUNTESS of BREADALBANE) to JANET
CHALMERS KIRBY of North Berwick (RS1969-11-20). ARMORER, COUNTESS of
BREADALBANE, and ultimately her heir MARK NICHOLSON, retained ownership of
the wooded policies, the walled garden and the coach house and stables, which were
converted into a single dwellinghouse.
35
1974
MRS KIRBY split Invereil House vertically into two dwelling houses, each with its own
services but with shared access to some offices and to Dirleton Road by the avenue
(RS1974-07-03). She sold the main rooms and a ground-floor flat in the west as one
property to EDWARD ROY KURYS of Edinburgh and the E wing, mainly comprising
the former servants’ quarters, to CHRISTOPHER SYDNEY HUDSON (b.1910, d.2005,
formerly of Special Operations Executive).
1986
West house purchased by THOMAS GORDON ORANGE of Harrogate (RS1986-01-22).
1993
West section of Invereil House with 3.46 acres of garden and woodland and shared
access to Dirleton Road purchased from the Allied Irish Bank by HARRY JOHNSTON,
the current proprietor (RS1993-02-23). He also purchased the east wing from HUDSON
(RS1993-07-21) and 1.27 acres of Linkhouse Wood from Ferrygate Farm (RS1993-10-
25). The coach house with 1.354 acres of garden ground and shared access avenue to
Dirleton Road was purchased from MARK JULIAN NICHOLSON by DR MORGAN
WILLIAM FLYNN (RS1993-12-20).
1999
East and West Invereil House were converted back to a single property by JOHNSTON,
the current proprietor. However, the two independent sets of services were retained and
remain separate today (interview 20 April 2013).
2011
Invereil House and 4.73 acres of formal garden and mixed woodland for sale by the
current proprietor. Surrounding the house there are lawns flanked by formal herbaceous
borders [the ghost of the Victorian layout], a circular lily pond [overgrown] with fountain
bowl. The 1.27 acres of Linkhouse Wood to the west of the original boundary wall added
to the policies in 1993 now includes a shelter belt of Eucalyptus, Beech, Scots Pine, and a
duck pond, polytunnel, vegetable garden, hen coup and kennels. Planning permission for
an all-weather tennis court has lapsed.
THE PILGRIM ROUTE
North Berwick owed much of its early importance to its location on the pilgrim route to
the shrine of St Andrew. St Andrews is particularly affected by the peninsular geography
of Fife, and is not readily accessible by land despite its ecclesiastical importance. This is
also true of other early Christian centres, Iona being an extreme example, and emphasises
the crucial importance of maritime travel in early medieval Scotland. The crossing from
North Berwick to Earlsferry was the quickest route for pilgrims travelling from the south
to St Andrews, and avoided long inland journeys on both sides of the Forth. The precise
boarding point for pilgrims in North Berwick is not certain; it has been suggested that it
may have originally been closer to Dirleton at the Broad Sands, close by Ferrygate Farm
(Ferrier 1991, 14) but, if so, it must soon have moved to North Berwick Bay. Small boats,
or tenders to larger ones, probably beached to embark and disembark pilgrims at Broad
36
Sands, and could still have beached on the sands at North Berwick. The crossing is quite
a long one (18 km) for a small boat, and the ferry service may have been very busy at the
height of the season, so there may have been more substantial arrangements for boarding
larger boats directly, perhaps located like the present harbour on the small rocky
peninsula called Kirk Ness at the east end of North Berwick Bay. There are references to
the harbour works in 1632 and 1726 (Simpson & Stevenson 1981, 18), and it was
certainly in place by the time of Bishop Pococke's visit in 1760 (Kemp 1887, 319), while
nearby is the ruin of the earliest parish church, established before 1177 and dedicated to
St Andrew, suggesting a strong link with the pilgrim traffic. Also a ferryboat was chosen
as the theme for the burgh's heraldic coat of arms, demonstrating the importance to the
burgh of the pilgrim ferry. The ferry route seems to have existed until the late 17th
century, but use by pilgrims would have ceased in the 16th century as a result of the
Reformation, and might have been in decline earlier. At a much earlier date, the sack
(1296) and loss (1333) of Berwick-upon-Tweed extinguished a major centre of
population in southern Scotland, while the ensuing long wars with England would have
discouraged any movement of pilgrims from south of the border. This may have
engendered an early decline in pilgrim traffic from the south passing through North
Berwick; pilgrims from inland and the west might be more inclined to use the
Queensferry crossing (http://www.northberwick.org.uk/walks_2.html).
Name:
Barbara Morris, East Lothian Gardens and Landscapes and Recording Project under the
auspices of The Garden History Society in Scotland http://www.gardenhistorysociety.org
Dates of ground survey work:
20 April and 29 June 2013
Date research completed:
14 March 2014