Case Study of Newhailes
Musselburgh, Scotland
Conservation and Restoration of Historic Gardens
Heidi Baker
BSc (Hons Horticulture)
6 December 2007
Word Count: 2948
Contents
Introduction 3
Why Newhailes is worthy of revival 4
Overview of the revival project 5
Issues affecting the revival project 12
Conclusion 13
References 14
Appendix 1: Map showing boundary of Newhailes 16
Appendix 2: Listed buildings and structures at Newhailes 17
Appendix 3: Timeline for Newhailes house and estate 18
Appendix 4: Character areas 19
List of Figures
Figure 1: View of Newhailes house from lawn. 3
Figure 2: Plinth from Gladiator. 6
Figure 3: Photograph of Sphinx from Country Life Magazine 7
Figure 4: Current interpretation for Sphinx and Gladiators 8
Figure 5: Flower Garden, circa 1890 9
Figure 6: Remains of the Flower Garden 9
Figure 7: Front of Shell Grotto 10
Figure 8: Excavation of cascade 11
Introduction
Newhailes is a National Trust for Scotland (NTS) property located between the large conurbations of Edinburgh and Musselburgh and is in the early stages of its revival project. At first glance, to an untrained eye, all one might see is a magnificent house surrounded by empty fields, woodland areas and derelict walls. However, look past this initial emptiness and the true character of the landscape shows through, revealing evidence of impressive works of art and architecture that would have wowed the guests of the influential Dalrymple family that lived at Newhailes from the 18th Century until 1996.
The Palladian style house is intact (figure 1), and although a bit shabby, really gives a feel as to how grand these landscaped gardens once used to be. The outlines of the lawns and Ladies Walkway are still visible and walls still stand around what used to be the flower garden, and down through the woodlands, an enchanting water garden with the remains of a Teahouse and Shell Grotto sit quietly among the trees (Baker 2007a).
Figure 1: View of Newhailes house from lawn.
Source: Baker (2007b)
The NTS talk about Newhailes being project of 'revival' as many of the original features of the landscape are still present and just need coaxing back out in to the open (Simpson, 2007) Another term that would fit in to the project at Newhailes could be 'restoration' which refers to repairing or rehabilitating the structures that already exist (Sales, 1995).
When the NTS were given Newhailes by Lady Antonia Dalrymple in 1996, they launched the largest appeal in its history (Gilchrist, 2002) to secure and preserve both the building and its contents. The building itself was almost like a time capsule, with a great deal of interior detail, such as upholstery and wallpaper still intact. The conservators, led by Ian Gow decided to take the 'conserve as found' approach. Gow said, "There is a tapestry still hung on 1730's tacks- I was not going to sacrifice these to the goddess of Velcro." (Cited in Binney, 2003)
This 'conserve as found' approach or to do 'as much as necessary and as little as possible' (National Trust for Scotland, 2006) is seen as the most appropriate method of conservation for the house and does make sense, because a building is a static object and largely protected from the elements. A landscape however is dynamic and alive and will just deteriorate over time and some features could disappear completely.
Why is Newhailes worthy of revival?
People:
The Scottish architect James Smith, whose most impressive commissions were buildings such as Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire and Dalkeith House, Edinburgh (Macaulay, 2007), originally built Newhailes for himself and his family. Financial issues forced him to sell and in 1709, Sir David Dalrymple bought the property (National Trust for Scotland, 2006). The Dalrymple family were very well known in Scotland as a dynasty comprising of lawyers, judges, and politicians and as key figures in the several generations of the Scottish Enlightenment. Like many significant figures who worked in Edinburgh, they had their country home to retire to, and this was Newhailes.
Location:
Newhailes is the largest area of woodland in Edinburgh (Simpson, 2007) and is a valuable area of green space. Greenspace Scotland conducted a survey in 2007 to discover what the public perception of green spaces was, how often they used them, and what they used them for. In the Edinburgh and Lothian's area, 51% use the green spaces once a week or more often, with 51% using the green spaces to go for a walk, and 20% to walk their dog (Greenspace Scotland, 2007). Newhailes used to be surrounded to the north and west by the parkland areas of two neighbouring estates, Brunstane and Duddingston, but now urban developments are creeping in, making the green space of Newhailes even more valuable. A 1995 National Grid map (Appendix 1) shows the encroachment of houses on all but one side of the Newhailes property
Value:
Historic Scotland has registered Newhailes in their Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes (Historic Scotland, 2001) and the property also contains a number of category A, B and C listed buildings. Details of these structures can be found in Appendix 2. To be registered on the Historic Scotland list, a property must display some or all of the following values: historical, work of art, horticultural, architectural, nature conservation and scenic.
The NTS have a set of principles for their conservation work and one of these principles is that they should take a holistic approach to each property and consider all the different values on an equal level. All aspects of significance should be considered, including intangible associations such as personal attachments and experiences (National Trust for Scotland, 2001)
Overview of the revival project.
Most generations of the Dalrymple family changed or added something to Newhailes and there are now many different layers (see Appendix 3) so the NTS are using historic maps from 1750 and 1798 ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
The NTS have a set of principles for their conservation work and one of these principles is that they should take a holistic approach to each property and consider all the different values on an equal level. All aspects of significance should be considered, including intangible associations such as personal attachments and experiences (National Trust for Scotland, 2001)
Overview of the revival project.
Most generations of the Dalrymple family changed or added something to Newhailes and there are now many different layers (see Appendix 3) so the NTS are using historic maps from 1750 and 1798 as a basis for the layer they are attempting to revive. For instance, the lawn at the front of the house used to be a flower garden (Simpson, 2007), but this was much earlier than 1750, so the NTS would never consider returning it to its former use. However, the house and the landscape have many strong links to each other and the revival of the landscape should be sympathetic to these links.
The NTS has produced a detailed management plan for the Newhailes landscape, to be implemented over fifty years in four phases. This plan has divided the landscape in to ten character areas. A full list of these areas is in Appendix 4.
Due to the large amount of work involved in this revival project, this case study is just going to focus on the following aspects of the landscape:
Gladiator and Sphinx statues: Phase 1
Flower Garden: Phase 2
Shell Grotto: Phase 3
Most of the work planned for Phase 1 of the project is for the trees and pathways. Once this preliminary work is underway, other structures around the estate can be worked on, and this will be vital in capturing the imagination of the local community. At Painshill Park in Surrey, the first structure to be renovated was the Gothic Temple (Baker 2007c) and the main reason for this was to inspire the local community and get them excited about the rest of the project.
* Gladiator and Sphinx statues
The NTS have sufficient evidence about these statues to be able to replace them or at least provide accurate interpretation to show what used to exist on the lawn of Newhailes.
The originals were made by the famous English sculptor John Cheere, and receipts from his workshop show that the Gladiators and Sphinxes were purchased in 1740. He only ever made two styles of Gladiator: one with a dagger and one with a spear (Simpson, 2007), and the lead fixings are still visible in the stone plinths (figure 2) so it is possible to discern what the statues looked like and how big they were.
Figure 2: Plinth from Gladiator.
Source: Baker (2007b)
There is a lot of classical iconography linking the house and landscape at Newhailes and the Sphinx are a good example of this. The famous library, created by Sir David Dalrymple, became known as 'the most learned library in Europe' (Simpson, 2007). The Sphinx, who are creatures associated with wisdom, are thought to be guarding this learned place in the same way as the Sphinx protected the city of Thebes, home to one of the world's oldest known libraries.
The Sphinx statues were photographed and featured in an article in The Country Life magazine in 1917 (figure 3), but unfortunately were stolen, along with the Gladiators in 1949.
Figure 3: Photograph of Sphinx from Country Life Magazine.
Source: National Trust for Scotland (no date)
John Cheere also provided statues for other properties such as Stourhead, Wiltshire and Castle Howard, Yorkshire. Castle Howard was once home to over thirty lead statues, but a number of these went missing in the 19th Century. It was decided during the restoration of Castle Howard that these sculptures were an integral and dramatic part of the landscape, and there are now 16 restored original sculptures on display in the grounds, and two copies (Castle Howard, 2005). Specialist lead restorer Michael Major rebuilt these two copies using archival evidence and traditional techniques. He constructed one of the copies, a statue of Hercules and Antaeus, using a mould taken from an identical 18th Century cast. For the second copy, a statue of Pluto and Proserpina, he used a small 17th Century copy of the original statue to scale up from, using a traditional sculpture technique called pointing (Castle Howard, 2005).
The NTS have been in touch with Castle Howard, and Michael Major is able to make new sculptures based on the evidence the NTS have and the examples of John Cheere's work at Castle Howard. These sculptures are likely to cost in the region of £20,000 each! (Simpson, 2007) However, Newhailes is still an open landscape and the sculptures would again be vulnerable to vandalism and theft. Until the statues are restored, it is planned to have some form of visual interpretation (National Trust for Scotland, 2006). Presently there is a metal book explaining about the position of the Sphinx (figure 4) that matches in with other interpretation around the landscape.
Figure 4: Current interpretation for Sphinx and Gladiators
Source: Baker (2007b)
* Flower Garden
The Flower Garden is perhaps one of the most intriguing areas of the Newhailes property as the only thing left visible is the damaged wall and structures around the outside (Baker, 2007a). The photograph in figure 5 shows the Flower Garden in the 1890's, and this is thought to be the same design that was implemented by Christian Dalrymple in 1818 with the assistance of garden designer, John Hay. Although none of the soft landscaping exists today, the NTS have lists of plants, diary entries from Christian Dalrymple and receipts from nurseries, so they know what would have been here originally, but problems sourcing these plants may still be encountered if the heritage varieties are no longer available (Goulty, 1993). This is very different from the situation at Hill of Tarvit in Fife, where there is a walled garden, but no solid evidence as to what was inside. The NTS have decided to create a new design for this garden in keeping with the Arts and Crafts style of the rest of the property (Simpson, 2007) and they do know that Robert Lorimer was involved with some of the design, so can compare the new design with other Lorimer gardens in Fife, such as Earlshall and Kellie Castle.
Figure 5: Flower Garden, circa 1890.
Source: National Trust for Scotland (No date)
The photograph in figure 6 shows the Flower Garden as it stands today, with damaged walls and established trees such as Acer pseudoplatanus. Returning an abandoned garden to cultivation of this standard can be an expensive process (Tabor, 1997) but once underway could provide additional income to the property from increased visitor numbers and plant sales.
Figure 6: Remains of the Flower Garden.
Source: Baker (2007b)
* Shell Grotto and Cascade
The Shell Grotto is thought to have been finished in 1781 and the NTS have photographs dated from around the 1960's with the roof intact, so most of the decay on the structure now has only happened in the last fifty years. As it stands today (figure 7), the Shell Grotto has no roof and the interior decoration is absent along with many of the stones that would have adorned the exterior walls.
Figure 7: Front of Shell Grotto.
Source: Baker (2007)
When researching Newhailes, a team of archaeologists and NTS employees working in this area made many discoveries. One was that the floor in the Grotto is still intact, minus a couple of tiles but otherwise is in remarkably good condition. There is a small fireplace in the Grotto, and with the use of smoke bombs, they discovered pipes inside the walls that carried the smoke out to either side of the Grotto. In front of the structure is a large dip in the ground, which used to be a pool and featured the Shell Cascade. The brickwork of the Shell Cascade was also revealed during the archaeological research (see figure 8). For health and safety reasons and to preserve the remaining features, the floor of the grotto and the Shell Cascade have been covered back over with soil until they are ready to be restored.
Figure 8: Excavation of cascade
Source: National Trust for Scotland (no date)
On the other side of the dip are two stone plinths, which originally would have been part of a seat at this viewing point towards the Grotto and the path would have come past this seat, rather than directly in front of the Grotto as it is today. Christian Dalrymple's diary entries mention that the best time to visit the Shell Grotto would be as the sun was setting (Simpson, 2007). The idea was that you would come through the woodland, in to this clearing with the sun reflecting off the semi precious stones on the outside of the grotto, the noise of the cascade and the spectacle of the smoke, creating a truly magical and enchanting atmosphere.
The proposed work on this area is to recreate a roof for the structure to make it watertight, but not to distract from the main façade. Once the roof is in place, work on the interior of the Grotto can take place, including restoring the surviving panels that were found in the river and recreating or interpreting the remainder. Restoration of the pool and cascade will take place and the path network will be returned to its original layout to allow the Grotto to be viewed from the correct angle. It is hoped that the smoke effects will be restored and used either on a timer or for special tours.
Issues affecting the revival project:
The main issues that may affect the Newhailes revival are listed in detail below.
* Finance:
When the NTS took on Newhailes, they were required to raise £14 million in endowments, but only managed to secure £8 million (Simpson, 2007), which was largely put aside for the house, with the plan of raising the remaining funds for the garden at a later stage. Melissa Simpson joined the NTS as Gardens Advisor in 2001 and was determined to set the wheels rolling for the formation of the Management Plan to raise the remaining funds.
Historic Scotland provide an annual maintenance grant for the Grade A listed building and its curtilage and Scottish National Heritage will provide a minimal amount for the landscape, providing it is kept as full access. An amount of financial support may also be available from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Another source of money comes from donations from members of the public, including people involved with the Dalrymple family, or ex members of staff.
Different areas of the garden can also be utilised to aid with funding. Currently the house itself is used to host events such as Christmas craft days (Baker 2007a) and photo shoots (Scotclans, 2007). Painshill Park, Surrey encourages school groups to use the gardens as outdoor classrooms (Watkins and Wright, 2007) and the Grotto is also utilised as Santa's Grotto in the Christmas period (Baker, 2007c).
* Public access:
The Scottish Open Access Legislation means that at present, anyone is entitled to access the Newhailes landscape. There is no compulsory entry fee except for the house, although visitors are encouraged to pay for parking in the car park. However, it was noted on the field visit that very few do this (Baker 2007a). A concern with the fact that the landscape is open is the visible presence of vandalism. It is hoped that once the structures further away from the house are revived, they will be included in the curtilage of the house and therefore the access rights will not be exercisable (Office of Public Sector Information, 2003). This could present a problem with the local dog walking community as it was observed on the field visit they were very frequent visitors to Newhailes and to take away their access rights might not be advisable (Baker 2007a).
* Planning for Houses.
There is an area of space southwest of Newhailes that is free from houses; however, there is currently a planning application in process. A problem that the planners are having is how access will be gained to this area of land. A railway line runs through the land and the only feasible point of access from the main road would be through Lodge Park of Newhailes which is currently the location of the car park.
Other factors that could arise might be conflict with nature conservationists, archaeologists, and the local community, health and safety, tree felling, rising visitor numbers, increased labour required for maintenance and security.
Conclusion:
Connections between the house and the landscape such as the Sphinx and Library, the Palladian style house and Teahouse, the Platoon tree plantings and the military connections of the Dalrymple's, to name just a few, are so important to the atmosphere and character of Newhailes. If this is not recognised by reviving the landscape to the same standard as the house, it would not do justice to the work of the generations of the Dalrymple family that lived there. It was noted whilst travelling to Newhailes, that very few people that were approached had heard of the property, so the NTS have a great opportunity to educate and involve the local community during the revival and the future conservation of the property. The whole point of conservation is to transfer the significance of our heritage to future generations (National Trust, 2001). The issues with the local community, along with the inevitable financial matters, are going to be a huge concern for the NTS throughout this revival.
The revival of the Newhailes landscape is an extremely exciting project and one that seems to be well managed and thought through. This case study has only scraped the surface of what is going to be involved here in the next fifty years or so, but once completed, the NTS are going to have a landscape that could fall in to the same category as other great landscapes in the UK, such as Painshill, Stowe and Stourhead.
References- Published
Binney, M. (2003) Don't let preservation become an excuse for neglect. [www document]. www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/the_hitch/article991300.ece (accessed 15 November 2007).
Castle Howard. (2005) Restoration projects in chronological order [www document]. http://www.castlehoward.co.uk/metadot/index.pl?id=3787&isa=Category&op=show (accessed 3 December 2007).
Edina. (1995) Historic Digimap [www document]. http://digimap.edina.ac.uk/historic/HistoricMap?page=oneUpMap&minx=331711.471144212&miny=671881.0554223765&maxx=333009.08172790386&maxy=673178.6660060683&xpos=476&ypos=299&mode=pan&tool=CENTRE&req-oneUpMap=center (accessed 30 November 2007).
Goulty, S.M. (1993) Heritage Gardens: Care, conservation and management. London: Routledge.
Gilchrist, J. (2002) Opening a time capsule [www document]. http://www.thescotsman.scotsman.com/s2.cfm?id=571562002 (accessed 5 October 2007).
Greenspace Scotland. (2007) Omnibus Survey Final Report [www.document]. http://www.greenspacescotland.org.uk/upload/File/greenspace%20survey%20report%202007.pdf (accessed 30 November 2007).
Historic Scotland. (2001) Gardens and Designed Landscapes: Newhailes [www document]. http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/gardens_search_summary.htm ?s=&r=Edinburgh %20and%20the%20Lothians&bool=0&PageID=2187 (accessed 29 October 2007).
Macaulay, J. (2007) Smith, James (1644/5-1731) [www document]. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/63118?docPos=7 (accessed 30 November 2007).
National Trust. (2001) Rooted in History: Studies in Garden Conservation. London: The National Trust.
Office of Public Sector Information. (2003) Land Reform (Scotland) Act, 2003) [www document]. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2003/asp_20030002_en_1 (accessed 27 November 2007).
Sales, J. (1995) 'Garden restoration, past and present'. The Horticulturist, 4 (1) 2-6.
Scotclans, (2007) ScotClans at Newhailes - Saving a Piece of Scottish History Through Photography [www document]. http://www.scotclans.com/customer_service/news/newhailes.html (accessed 27 November 2007).
Tabor, M (1997) 'A Landscape Architect's Perspective: Resolving the tensions between development and conservation', in Cooper, S. and Dingwall, C. (ed.) Walled Gardens in Scotland: Problem or Opportunity? Kindrogan Field Centre, Perthshire, 2-4 May 1997. Garden History Society.
Watkins, J. and Wright, T. (2007) The Management and Maintenance of Historic Parks, Gardens and Landscapes: The English Heritage Handbook. London: Francis Lincoln.
References- Unpublished
Baker, H. (2007a) Field Visit to Newhailes, Musselburgh: 23 November.
Baker, H. (2007b) Personal Photograph Collection.
Baker, H. (2007c) Field Visit to Painshill Park, Surrey: 18 October.
National Trust for Scotland. (No date) Newhailes Photograph Collection. NTS.
National Trust for Scotland. (2001) Conservation Principles. NTS.
National Trust for Scotland. (2006) The Conservation and Management of Newhailes Designed Landscape and Gardens. NTS.
Simpson, M. (2007) Interview with Melissa Simpson, Gardens Advisor South Region, National Trust for Scotland. Newhailes, Musselburgh: 23 November.
Appendix 1
Map showing boundary of Newhailes Property (red outline)
Source: Adapted from Edina (1995).
Appendix 2
Listed Buildings and Structures at Newhailes:
Category A:
* Newhailes House with gate piers
* Stable Block
Category B:
* Earl of Stair's Monument
* Doocot
* Entrance gate piers and gates
* Quadrants
* Railings
* Policy Walls
* Walled kitchen garden
* Walled flower garden
* Fruit store
* Shell grotto
* Tea house
* Ice house
* Terrace walk
Category C:
* Gardener's Cottage
Source: Adapted from National Trust for Scotland (2006)
Appendix 3:
Timeline for Newhailes House and Estate
686
House built by architect James Smith and named 'Whitehill'
702
Bought by Lord Bellenden and renamed 'Broughtoun'
709
Bought by Sir David and Lady Janet Dalrymple and renamed 'Newhailes'
721
Ownership passes to Sir James and Lady Christian Dalrymple
730
Records show species of foreign trees (Evergreen Oak, Spanish Oak, Tinebark Willow) planted around the estate
740
Signed receipt for two statues of gladiators and two sphinxes from the workshop of John Cheere.
Pre 1750
Evidence of Old Coaching Road, Burn, Forecourt, Central Lawn, Main Lawn, Gladiators, East Grove, Long Walk, Sphinx, Sheep Park, Water Garden, Brick Kiln Park, Ladies Walk, West Grove, Earl of Stair Monument, Doocot.
750
Military survey showing above features plus Platoons and a Curling Pool
David Dalrymple writes the 'Essay on Landscape Gardening'
751
Ownership passes to Sir David, Lady Anne, and Lady Helen Dalrymple
765
Ownership passes to Christian Dalrymple
774
William Dalrymple writes a letter about the completion of the Shell Grotto
798
Maps showing Bowling Green, Flower Garden, Slip Garden, Fruit Store, Ice House, Conservatory, Mushroom House, Work Yard, Raised Avenues, Summerhouse, Shell Grotto, Cascade and Pool, Washing Green, Kitchen Garden and Stack Yard.
807
Gardener's House development begins
815
Summerhouse is refurbished
817
John Hay measures the ground intended to be the Flower Garden
820
John Hay is consulted about the hot wall in the Kitchen Garden
824
Lodge constructed in Lodge Park
New approach entrance drive is traced out
Development of a new stable block begins
838
Ownership passes to Sir Charles and Lady Helen Dalrymple Fergusson
840
Map shows Entrance Gates, Lodge, Tree Clumps, Lodge Park, Ice House, Circular Mount, Laburnum Grove, Heated Wall on Kitchen Garden and Stable Block
849
Ownership passes to Sir Charles and Lady Alice Dalrymple
873
Records of a new Glasshouse by the Doocot
883
Map showing evidence of a Glasshouse range
916
Ownership passes to Sir David and Lady Margaret Dalrymple
932
Ownership passes to Sir Charles Mark and Lady Antonia Dalrymple
937
Sotheby's Auction sells 453 lots of books manuscripts and other documents from the Library
940
Sand Quarry opened in the north east area of the Sheep Park
Mink Farm developed in the West Grove
960's
Landscape starts to deteriorate due to loss of skill, financial pressure and increased vandalism
970
Landfill took place in Sheep Park
Nursery established in the Kitchen Garden
971
Sir Charles Mark Dalrymple dies
Management of the Estate transferred to The Trustees of Sir C.M. Dalrymple
The remainder of the Library goes to the National Library of Scotland in lieu of inheritance tax
998
Newhailes house and estate is gifted to the National Trust for Scotland
Source: Adapted from National Trust for Scotland (2006)
Appendix 4:
Character Areas:
* Lodge Park: car park, driveway, Old Coaching Road, burn,
* House and surrounding lawns: Front lawn, East Terrace, Bowling Green, Courtyard, Stone plinths for Gladiators and Sphinxes
* Flower Garden: Ice House, remaining walls of flower garden, slip garden, fruit store and work yard.
* East Grove: Raised avenues, Long Walk,
* North East Plantation: Sheep Park, Former Entrance, North East Plantation, evidence of Circular Mount, replanted tree Platoons.
* North Plantation and Water Gardens: Dairy, Viewing Platform, evidence of a Grotto and Glade, Water Gardens, Tea House, Laburnum Grove, Cow Park and raised Ladies Walk.
* West Grove: Shell Grotto, Cascade and Pool, Earl of Stair Monument, evidence of Curling Pool, auxiliary buildings, Washing Green.
* Kitchen Garden: Doocot, bothy, glasshouses, heated wall. Part of Kitchen Garden is leased out to local wholesale plant nursery.
* Stable Block and Courtyard: currently used for visitor facilities, offices, education rooms and storage.
* Stack Yard: mixed nursery area.
Source: Adapted from National Trust for Scotland (2006)
6
Conservation and Restoration of Historic Gardens
Case Study of Newhailes
Heidi Baker BSc (Hons) Horticulture
