Architecture of Scotland in the Industrial Revolution includes all building in Scotland between the mid-eighteenth century and the end of the nineteenth century. During this period, the country underwent an economic and social transformation as a result of
industrialisation
Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
, which was reflected in new architectural forms, techniques and scale of building. In the second half of the eighteenth century, Edinburgh was the focus of a classically inspired building boom that reflected the growing wealth and confidence of the capital. Housing often took the form of horizontally divided
tenement flat
The Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which is the main source of the law of the tenement, which regulates tenement flats.
The Act is part of a package of land reforms together with the Abolition of Feudal T ...
s. Some of the leading European architects during this period were Scottish, including
Robert Adam
Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...
and William Chambers.
While urban centres were rebuilt in local materials, including
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
in granite and
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
in red sandstone, the homes of the rural poor remained basic, particularly in
the Highlands
Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau.
Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to:
Places Albania
* Dukagjin Highlands
Armenia
* Armenian Highlands
Australia
*Sou ...
. In the cities they were confined to the sprawl of suburban tenements like those of the
Gorbals
The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportun ...
in Glasgow. One response to growing population was the creation of planned
new town
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
s, like those at
Inverary
Inveraray ( or ; gd, Inbhir Aora meaning "mouth of the Aray") is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is on the western shore of Loch Fyne, near its head, and on the A83 road. It is a former royal burgh, the traditional county town of ...
and
New Lanark
New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde, approximately 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometres) from Lanark, in Lanarkshire, and some southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1785 and opened in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and hou ...
. The nineteenth century also was the revival of the
Scots Baronial
Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th century Gothic Revival which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of Scot ...
style, pioneered at
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...
's
Abbotsford House
Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Galashiels, on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott between 1817 and 1825 ...
and confirmed in popularity by
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
's residence at
Balmoral Castle
Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen.
The estate and its original castle were bought ...
. There was also a revival of
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
styles in church architecture.
Neo-classicism
Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism w ...
continued to be a major movement in the works of architects including
William Henry Playfair
William Henry Playfair FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century, who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town and many of Edinburgh's neoclassical landmarks.
Life
Playfair was born on 15 ...
and
Alexander "Greek" Thomson
Alexander "Greek" Thomson (9 April 1817 – 22 March 1875) was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was l ...
. The later part of the century also saw some of the most important architectural products of new engineering, including the iconic
Forth Bridge
The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...
.
Late eighteenth century
Neo-classicism
During the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, Scotland became one of the commercial and industrial centres of the British Empire. From the mid-eighteenth century this growing wealth and confidence was reflected in a classically inspired building boom focused on
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
's
New Town
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
. It was laid out according to a plan of rectangular blocks with open squares, drawn up by James Craig (1739–95) and built in strong
Craigleith
Craigleith ( gd, Creag Lìte) is a small island in the Firth of Forth off North Berwick in East Lothian, Scotland. Its name comes from the Scottish Gaelic ''Creag Lìte'' meaning "rock of Leith". It is at its highest point.
Geography and geo ...
sandstone which could be precisely cut by masons.P. Wilson, "A modern material", in P. Wilson, ed., ''Building with Scottish Stone'' (Edinburgh: Arcamedia, 2005), , p. 5. Most residences were built as
tenement
A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...
flats, divided horizontally, with different occupants sharing a common staircase, in contrast to the houses used in contemporaneous building in England. The smallest might have only one room; the largest, several bedrooms and drawing rooms.R. W. Brunskill, ''Houses and Cottages of Britain'' (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2nd edn., 2000), , pp. 234–5. Common features of neo-classical building included columns, temple fronts, rounded arches, flanking wings and domes.M. Glendinning, R. MacInnes and A. MacKechnie, ''A History of Scottish Architecture: from the Renaissance to the Present Day'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2002), , p. 153. This classicism, together with its reputation as a major centre of the Enlightenment, resulted in the city being nicknamed "The Athens of the North". The
gridiron plan
In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid.
Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogo ...
, building forms and the architectural detailing would be copied by many smaller towns, although rendered in locally quarried materials.
Despite this building boom, the centralisation of much of the government administration, including the king's works, in London, meant that a number of Scottish architects spent most of their careers in England, where they had a major impact on
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Georg ...
.M. Glendinning, R. MacInnes and A. MacKechnie, ''A History of Scottish Architecture: from the Renaissance to the Present Day'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2002), , p. 73.
Robert Adam
Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...
(1728–92) emerged as leader of the first phase of the neo-classical revival in England and Scotland from around 1760 until his death. He rejected the elaborate
Palladian style
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
that had dominated building as "ponderous" and "disgustful".M. Glendinning, R. MacInnes and A. MacKechnie, ''A History of Scottish Architecture: from the Renaissance to the Present Day'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2002), , p. 106. However, he continued their tradition of drawing inspiration directly from
classical antiquity
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
, influenced by his four-year stay in Europe, where he saw the excavations at
Pompeii
Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
and
Herculaneum
Herculaneum (; Neapolitan and it, Ercolano) was an ancient town, located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
Like the nea ...
, which for the first time allowed modern Europeans to see classical buildings first hand, rather than work from literary descriptions. Neo-classicism strived for greater simplicity, often more influenced by
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
rather than
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
models. Adam's major works in Edinburgh included the General Register House (1774–92), the University Building (1789) and
Charlotte Square
300px, Robert Adam's palace-fronted north side
Charlotte Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the New Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The square is located at the west end of George Street and was intend ...
(1791). He also designed 36 country houses in Scotland. An interior designer as well as an architect, together with his brothers
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
(1721–92) and
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
(1732–94) developing the
Adam style
The Adam style (or Adamesque and "Style of the Brothers Adam") is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and James (17 ...
, he influenced the development of architecture, not just in Britain, but in Western Europe,
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
and in Russia, where his patterns were taken by Scottish architect Charles Cameron (1745–1812).
Adam's main rival was William Chambers (1723–96), another Scot, but born in Sweden. He did most of his work in London, with a small number of houses in Scotland. He was appointed architectural tutor to the Prince of Wales, later
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
, and in 1766, with Robert Adam, as Architect to the King. More international in outlook than Adam, he combined Neo-classicism and Palladian conventions and his influence was mediated through his large number of pupils. The classical influence also reached church architecture. Scots-born architect
James Gibbs
James Gibbs (23 December 1682 – 5 August 1754) was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transi ...
(1682–1754) introduced a consciously antique style in his rebuilding of
St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...
, London, with a massive, steepled
portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
and rectangular, side-aisled plan. Similar patterns in Scotland can be seen at St Andrew's in the Square, Glasgow (1737–59), designed by Allan Dreghorn (1706–64) and built by the master mason Mungo Nasmyth. Gibbs' own design for St. Nicholas West, Aberdeen (1752–55), had the same rectangular plan, with a nave-and-aisles, barrel-vaulted layout with superimposed pedimented front.M. Glendinning, R. MacInnes and A. MacKechnie, ''A History of Scottish Architecture: From the Renaissance to the Present Day'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1996), , p. 143.
Early nineteenth century
Vernacular building
Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...
of this period continued to dependent on local materials and styles.C. McKean, "Improvement and modernisation in everyday Enlightenment Scotland", in E. A. Foyster and C. A. Whatley, ed., ''A History of Everyday Life in Scotland, 1600 to 1800'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010), , pp. 55–6. Often built by groups of friends and family, the homes of the rural poor were usually of very simple construction. Contemporaries noted that cottages in the
Highlands and Islands
The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland and Outer Hebrides (Western Isles).
The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 ...
tended to be cruder, with single rooms, slit windows and earthen floors, often shared by a large family. In contrast many
Lowland
Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland.
Definitions
Upland and lowland are portions of ...
cottages had distinct rooms and chambers, were clad with plaster or paint and even had glazed windows. In the early 1800s urban settings also included traditional thatched houses, beside the larger, stone and slate roofed town houses of merchants and urban gentry.
The Industrial Revolution transformed the scale of Scottish towns, making
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
the "second city of the Empire", growing from a population of 77,385 in 1801 to 274,324 by 1841. Between 1780 and 1830 three middle class "new towns" were laid out on grid-iron plans, similar to those in Edinburgh, to the south and west of the old town.A. Middleton, "Glasgow's East End", in D. V. Donnison and A. Middleton, ''Regenerating the Inner City: Glasgow's Experience'' (London: Routledge, 1987), , pp. 19–20. The other side of increasing wealth and planned architecture for the aristocracy and middle classes was the growth of urban sprawl. In Glasgow the growing workforce was left to the mercy of market forces as suburban tenements were thrown up, particularly to the east of the city, like those of the
Gorbals
The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportun ...
to the south, where overcrowding, lack of sanitation and general poverty contributed to disease, crime, and very low life expediency.P. Fry, P. S. Fry and F. S. Fry, ''The History of Scotland'' (London: Routledge, 1990), , pp. 203–4.
Urban centres increasing made use of locally mined stone. While Edinburgh made extensive use of yellow sandstone, the commercial centre and tenements of Glasgow were built in distinctive red sandstone. After a major fire in the largely wooden
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
in the 1740s, the city fathers decreed that major buildings should be in the locally abundant granite. This began a new phase in large-scale quarrying and led to the "granite city" becoming the centre of a major industry, which supplied Scotland and England with faced stone, pavement slabs and pillars.
New towns
The sometimes
utopian
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...
concept of the
new town
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
, aimed at improving society through the foundation of architecturally designed communities, was an important part of Scottish thinking from the mid-eighteenth to the twentieth century. In addition to the New Town of Edinburgh these included the complete rebuilding of
Inverary
Inveraray ( or ; gd, Inbhir Aora meaning "mouth of the Aray") is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is on the western shore of Loch Fyne, near its head, and on the A83 road. It is a former royal burgh, the traditional county town of ...
for
John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll
Field Marshal John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll (June 1723 – 24 May 1806), styled Marquess of Lorne from 1761 to 1770, was a Scottish soldier and nobleman. After serving as a junior officer in Flanders during the War of the Austrian Succe ...
by John Adam (1721–92) and Robert Mylne (1733–1811), between 1772 and 1800.M. Gardiner, ''Modern Scottish Culture'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005), , p. 164.
Helensburgh
Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local governm ...
near Glasgow was laid out in 1776 on a grid-iron plan. Small new towns on a gridiron plan in the period 1770–1830 included Cuminestown,
New Pitsligo
New Pitsligo ( sco, Pitsligae), also known as Cavoch (locally ''Cyaak''), Tomintoul
Tomintoul (; from gd, Tom an t-Sabhail, meaning "Hillock of the Barn") is a village in the Moray council area of Scotland in the historic county of Banffshire.
Within Cairngorms National Park, the village lies close to the banks of the River ...
and
Aberchirder
Aberchirder ( sco, Fogieloan, Gaelic: ''Obar Chiardair'') known locally as Foggieloan or Foggie, is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, situated on the A97 road six miles west of Turriff.
Etymology
The name Aberchirder, recorded in c.1204 a ...
. At
Fochabers
Fochabers (; gd, Fachabair or Fothabair) is a village in the Parish of Bellie, in Moray, Scotland, east of the cathedral city of Elgin and located on the east bank of the River Spey. 1,728 people live in the village, which enjoys a rich mus ...
, from 1776 John Baxter redesigned the village on a grid plan, with a central square focused on Bellie Church (1795–97), still following in the tradition of Gibbs, with a
tetrastyle
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
portico and steeple.M. Glendinning, R. MacInnes and A. MacKechnie, ''A History of Scottish Architecture: From the Renaissance to the Present Day'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1996), , p. 181. From 1800, Robert Owen's
New Lanark
New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde, approximately 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometres) from Lanark, in Lanarkshire, and some southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1785 and opened in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and hou ...
, designed as a self-contained community, combining industry with ordered and improved living conditions, was an important milestone in the historical development of
urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
. Housing was combined with generous communal and living spaces, a children's school and community education centre. It also introduced a village store that supplied good at lower prices and became the model for the
co-operative movement
The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...
. Scotland also produced one of the major figures in urban planning in sociologist
Patrick Geddes
Sir Patrick Geddes (2 October 1854 – 17 April 1932) was a British biologist, sociologist, Comtean positivist, geographer, philanthropist and pioneering town planner. He is known for his innovative thinking in the fields of urban planning ...
(1854–1932), who developed the concept of
conurbation
A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...
, and discarded the idea of "sweeping clearances" to remove existing housing and the imposition of the
gridiron plan
In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid.
Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogo ...
, in favour of "conservative surgery": retaining the best buildings in an area and removing the worst. He put this into practice in Edinburgh, purchasing and improving slum tenements at James Court, and in new developments at
Ramsay Garden
Ramsay Garden is a block of sixteen private apartment buildings in the Castlehill area of Edinburgh, Scotland. They stand out for their red ashlar and white harled exteriors, and for their prominent position, most visible from Princes Street.
...
.
Neo-Classical decline
In the early nineteenth century the Gibbs-influenced steepled tradition continued in church architecture, as can be seen in
Robert Nisbet
Robert Alexander Nisbet (; September 30, 1913 – September 9, 1996) was an American sociologist, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Vice-Chancellor at the University of California, Riverside, and an Albert Schweitzer Profess ...
's
Inveresk
Inveresk (Gaelic: ''Inbhir Easg'') is a village in East Lothian, Scotland situated to the south of Musselburgh. It has been designated a conservation area since 1969. It is situated on slightly elevated ground on the north bank of a loop o ...
Church (1803–10). A Grecian form was developed at
William Burn
William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred t ...
's
North Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out (magazine), Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the ...
Church (1813) and St John's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh (1816). The controversy over the style of the Scottish National Monument in 1816 led to the labelling of Greek temple motifs as "pagan" and relatively few columnar Greek churches were built after that in the capital. An exception was
Archibald Elliot
Archibald Elliot (August 1761 – 16 June 1823) was a Scottish architect based in Edinburgh. He had a very distinctive style, typified by square plans, concealed roofs, crenellated walls and square corner towers. All may be said to derive from ...
Doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
temple front. More common in Edinburgh were churches that combined classical elements with other features, like the domed St George's,
Charlotte Square
300px, Robert Adam's palace-fronted north side
Charlotte Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the New Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The square is located at the west end of George Street and was intend ...
(1811–14), executed by Robert Reid, or the Gracco-Baroque of
William Playfair
William Playfair (22 September 1759 – 11 February 1823), a Scottish engineer and political economist, served as a secret agent on behalf of Great Britain during its war with France. The founder of graphical methods of statistics, Playfai ...
's St Stephen's (1827–28).M. Glendinning, R. MacInnes and A. MacKechnie, ''A History of Scottish Architecture: From the Renaissance to the Present Day'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1996), , p. 234. In Glasgow there was a tradition of grafting
portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
es on to existing meeting-houses, which continued in Gillespie Graham's West George Street Independent Church (1818), which was criticised as "
popish
The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodo ...
", and John Baird I's Greyfriars United Secession Church (1821), which was fronted by a Roman
Doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
portico. Classical designs for the established Church included the redevelopment by William Stark of St George's-Tron Church (1807–08), David Hamilton's (1768–1843) St Enoch's Parish Church (1827) and St Paul's Parish Church (1835).
Late nineteenth century
Gothic revival
Some of the earliest evidence of a revival in Gothic architecture is from Scotland.I. D. Whyte and K. A. Whyte, ''The Changing Scottish Landscape, 1500–1800'' (London: Taylor & Francis, 1991), , p. 100.
Inveraray Castle
Inveraray Castle (pronounced or ; Scottish Gaelic ''Caisteal Inbhir Aora'' ) is a country house near Inveraray in the county of Argyll, in western Scotland, on the shore of Loch Fyne, Scotland's longest sea loch. It is one of the earliest ex ...
, constructed from 1746 with design input from William Adam, displays the incorporation of turrets. These were largely conventional Palladian style houses that incorporated some external features of the Scots Baronial style.
Robert Adam's houses in this style include
Mellerstain
Mellerstain House is a stately home around north of Kelso in the Borders, Scotland. It is currently the home of the 14th Earl of Haddington, and is a historical monument of Scotland.
History
The older house or castle at Mellerstain included ...
and Wedderburn in Berwickshire and Seton House in East Lothian, but it is most clearly seen at
Culzean Castle
Culzean Castle ( , see yogh; sco, Cullain) is a castle overlooking the Firth of Clyde, near Maybole, Carrick, in South Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland. It is the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa, the chief of Clan Kennedy, but is ...
, Ayrshire, remodelled by Adam from 1777. Common features borrowed from sixteenth- and seventeenth-century houses included battlemented gateways,
crow-stepped gable
A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in ...
machicolations
A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at t ...
.L. Hull, ''Britain's Medieval Castles'' (London: Greenwood, 2006), , p. 154.
Important for the adoption of the style in the early nineteenth century was
Abbotsford House
Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Galashiels, on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott between 1817 and 1825 ...
, the residence the novelist and poet, Sir
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...
. Rebuilt for him from 1816, it became a model for the modern revival of the Baronial style.
Edward Blore
Edward Blore (13 September 1787 – 4 September 1879) was a 19th-century English landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary.
Early career
He was born in Derby, the son of the antiquarian writer Thomas Blore.
Blore's backg ...
Robert Stodart Lorimer
Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, for new work in Scots Baronial and Gothi ...
(1864–1929) and in urban contexts, including the building of
Cockburn Street
Cockburn Street is a picturesque street in Edinburgh's Old Town, created as a serpentine link from the Royal Mile#High Street, High Street to Waverley Station in 1856. It is named after the then recently-deceased Scottish lawyer, judge and lit ...
in Edinburgh (from the 1850s) as well as the National
Wallace Monument
The National Wallace Monument (generally known as the Wallace Monument) is a 67 metre tower on the shoulder of the Abbey Craig, a hilltop overlooking Stirling in Scotland. It commemorates Sir William Wallace, a 13th- and 14th-century Scottish hero ...
at Stirling (1859–69).M. Glendinning, R. MacInnes and A. MacKechnie, ''A History of Scottish Architecture: from the Renaissance to the Present Day'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2002), , pp. 276–85. Important for the dissemination of the style was Robert Billings' (1813–74) multi-volume ''Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland'' (1848–52).T. M. Devine "In bed with an elephant: almost three hundred years of the Anglo-Scottish Union" ''Scottish Affairs'', 57, Autumn 2006, p. 11. The rebuilding of
Balmoral Castle
Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen.
The estate and its original castle were bought ...
as a baronial palace and its adoption as a royal retreat from 1855 to 1858 confirmed the popularity of the style.
In
ecclesiastical architecture
Church architecture refers to the architecture of buildings of churches, convents, seminaries etc. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion, partly by innovation and partly by borrowing other architectural styles as ...
, a style with more in common to that in England was adopted, based on late Medieval models, often using arched windows, stained glass and carvings. Important figures included
Frederick Thomas Pilkington
Frederick Thomas Pilkington (1832-1898), pupil of his father, was a "Rogue" British architect, practising in the Victorian High Gothic revival style. He designed mostly churches and institutional buildings in Scotland. Typical of his work is t ...
(1832–98), who developed a new style of church building which accorded with the fashionable
High Gothic
High Gothic is a particularly refined and imposing style of Gothic architecture that appeared in northern France from about 1195 until 1250. Notable examples include Chartres Cathedral, Reims Cathedral, Amiens Cathedral, Beauvais Cathedral, and ...
Barclay Viewforth Church
Barclay Viewforth Church is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Presbytery of Edinburgh.
History
Located at the border between the Bruntsfield and Tollcross areas of the city at the junction of Barclay Place and Wright's Houses ...
, Edinburgh (1862–64).G. Stamp, "The Victorian kirk: Presbyterian architecture in nineteenth century Scotland", in C. Brooks, ed., ''The Victorian Church: Architecture and Society'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995), , pp. 108–10.
Robert Rowand Anderson
Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, (5 April 1834 – 1 June 1921) was a Scottish Victorian architect. Anderson trained in the office of George Gilbert Scott in London before setting up his own practice in Edinburgh in 1860. During the 1860s his ...
(1834–1921), who trained in the office of
George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...
in London before returning to Edinburgh, worked mainly on small churches in the 'First Pointed' (or Early English) style that is characteristic of Scott's former assistants. By 1880 his practice was designing some of the most prestigious public and private buildings in Scotland, such as the
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...
; the Dome of Old College, Medical Faculty and McEwan Hall,
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
Glasgow Central station
, symbol_location = gb
, symbol = rail
, image = Main Concourse at Glasgow Central Station.JPG
, caption = The main concourse
, borough = Glasgow, City of Glasgow
, country ...
, the
Catholic Apostolic Church
The Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also known as the Irvingian Church, is a Christian denomination and Protestant sect which originated in Scotland around 1831 and later spread to Germany and the United States.Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute.M. Glendinning, R. MacInnes and A. MacKechnie, ''A History of Scottish Architecture: From the Renaissance to the Present Day'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1996), , p. 552.
Classical revival
Although eclipsed by Scots Baronial and Gothic forms, Neo-classicism continued to be a major style into the nineteenth century.
William Henry Playfair
William Henry Playfair FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century, who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town and many of Edinburgh's neoclassical landmarks.
Life
Playfair was born on 15 ...
(1790–1857) was the designer of many of Edinburgh's neoclassical landmarks in the New Town. Two of his finest works are the
National Gallery of Scotland
The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by W ...
and the
Royal Scottish Academy
The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art.
The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...
, which are situated in the centre of Edinburgh. However, the figure most associated with the classical style was
Alexander "Greek" Thomson
Alexander "Greek" Thomson (9 April 1817 – 22 March 1875) was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was l ...
(1817–75). Working mainly in Glasgow, he turned away from the Gothic style toward that of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, as can be seen in the temple and columns that were part of the
Caledonia Road Church
Caledonia Road Church, formerly Caledonia Road United Presbyterian Church and Hutchesontown and Caledonia Road Church, is a ruined church in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1966 the building was added to the Scottish Heritage List as Listed Building, Catego ...
(1856).
David Rhind
David Rhind FRSE (1808 – 26 April 1883) was a prominent Scottish architect, mainly remembered for his public buildings, banks, churches and schools, most of which are now listed buildings.
Life
Rhind was born at 15 Gayfield Place in Edin ...
(1808–83) employed both neoclassical and Baronial styles and his work included many branches of the
Commercial Bank of Scotland
The Commercial Bank of Scotland Ltd. was a Scottish commercial bank. It was founded in Edinburgh in 1810, and obtained a royal charter in 1831. It grew substantially through the 19th and early 20th centuries, until 1958, when it merged with th ...
, among them their headquarters in Edinburgh. He also designed a number of churches, local government buildings, and houses. One of his grandest schemes was Daniel Stewart's Hospital, now
Stewart's Melville College
Stewart's Melville College (SMC) is an independent day and boarding school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Classes are all boys in the 1st to 5th years and co-educational in Sixth (final) year. It has a roll of about 750 pupils.
The school is twinned w ...
, Edinburgh. In 1849, he was commissioned to design the lay-out of the
Pollokshields
Pollokshields ( gd, Buthan Phollaig, Scots: ''Powkshiels'') is an area in the Southside of Glasgow, Scotland. Its modern boundaries are largely man-made, being formed by the M77 motorway to the west and northwest with the open land of Pollok ...
area of Glasgow, in what until then had been farmland south of the city centre. Rhind formed a partnership with
Robert Hamilton Paterson
Robert Hamilton Paterson (1843–1911) was a Scottish architect and partner in the architectural practice, Hamilton-Paterson and Rhind.
Life
Robert Hamilton Paterson was born at 6 Earl Grey Street Edinburgh in 1843, the son of Thomas Paterson, ...
(1843–1911) who executed major works for brewers, malters and warehouse-men (for which Edinburgh was a centre), including design of the Abbey, James Calder & Co., Castle, Holyrood, Drybrough's, Caledonian and Clydesdale Breweries; and also work for McVitie and Price. The partnership was to execute important projects such as the Queen Victoria Memorial at Liverpool and the Royal Scots War Memorial in
St Giles' Cathedral
St Giles' Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended ...
, Edinburgh.
New engineering
The nineteenth century saw some major engineering projects including Thomas Telford's (1757–1834) stone
Dean Bridge
The Dean Bridge spans the Water of Leith in the city of Edinburgh on the A90 road to South Queensferry, Queensferry on the Firth of Forth. It carries the roadway, long and broad, on four arches rising above the river.H Coghill, ''Discover ...
(1829–31) and iron
Craigellachie Bridge
Craigellachie Bridge is a cast iron arch bridge across the River Spey at Craigellachie, near to the village of Aberlour in Moray, Scotland. It was designed by the renowned civil engineer Thomas Telford and built from 1812 to 1814. It is a Catego ...
(1812–14). In the 1850s the possibilities of new wrought- and
cast-iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
construction were explored in the building of commercial warehouses in Glasgow. This adopted a round-arched Venetian style first used by Alexander Kirkland (1824–92) at the heavily ornamented 37–51 Miller Street (1854) and translated into iron in John Baird I's Gardner's Warehouse (1855–6), with an exposed iron frame and almost uninterrupted glazing. Most industrial buildings avoided this cast-iron aesthetic, like William Spence's (1806?–83) Elgin Engine Works built in 1856-8, using massive rubble blocks.M. Glendinning, R. MacInnes and A. MacKechnie, ''A History of Scottish Architecture: from the Renaissance to the Present Day'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2002), , p. 254.
The most important engineering project was the
Forth Bridge
The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...
, a
cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...
railway bridge over the
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south.
Name
''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...
in the east of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, west of central
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. Construction of a
suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...
designed by
Thomas Bouch
Sir Thomas Bouch (; 25 February 1822 – 30 October 1880) was a British railway engineer. He was born in Thursby, near Carlisle, Cumberland, and lived in Edinburgh. As manager of the Edinburgh and Northern Railway he introduced the first roll ...
(1822–80), was stopped after the collapse of another of his works, the
Tay Bridge
The Tay Bridge ( gd, Drochaid-rèile na Tatha) carries the railway across the Firth of Tay in Scotland between Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife. Its span is . It is the second bridge to occupy the site.
Plans for a bridge over the Tay ...
. The project was taken over by John Fowler (1817–98) and Benjamin Baker (1840–1907), who designed a structure that was built by Glasgow-based company Sir William Arrol & Co. from 1883. It was opened on 4 March 1890, and spans a total length of . It was the first major structure in Britain to be constructed of steel;A. Blanc, M. McEvoy and R. Plank, ''Architecture and Construction in Steel'' (London: Taylor & Francis, 1993), , p. 16. its contemporary, the
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Locally nicknamed "'' ...
was built of
wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
.J. E. McClellan and H. Dorn, ''Science And Technology in World History: An Introduction'' (JHU Press, 2nd edn., 2006), , p. 315.
See also
*
Architecture in early modern Scotland
Architecture in early modern Scotland encompasses all building within the borders of the kingdom of Scotland, from the early sixteenth century to the mid-eighteenth century. The time period roughly corresponds to the early modern era in Europe, ...