Scots Baronial Style architecture
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Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an
architectural style An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...
of 19th century
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of
Scottish castles Scottish castles are buildings that combine fortifications and residence, built within the borders of modern Scotland. Castles arrived in Scotland with the introduction of feudalism in the twelfth century. Initially these were wooden motte-and- ...
, buildings in the Scots baronial style are characterised by elaborate rooflines embellished with
conical roof A conical roof or cone roof is a cone-shaped roof that is circular at its base and terminates in a point. Distribution Conical roofs are frequently found on top of towers in medieval town fortifications and castles, where they may either si ...
s, tourelles, and
battlements A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...
with
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 ...
, often with an asymmetric plan. Popular during the fashion for
Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
and the
Picturesque Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in ''Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year ...
, Scots baronial architecture was equivalent to the
Jacobethan Revival The Jacobethan or Jacobean Revival architectural style is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance (15 ...
of 19th-century
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, and likewise revived the Late Gothic appearance of the fortified domestic architecture of the elites in the
Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...
and the
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
of the
Jacobean era The Jacobean era was the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of James VI of Scotland who also inherited the crown of England in 1603 as James I. The Jacobean era succeeds the Elizabethan era and precedes the Ca ...
. Among
architects An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
of the Scots baronial style in the
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
were
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 ...
and
David Bryce David Bryce FRSE FRIBA RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scottish architect. Life Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David Bryce (1763–1816) a grocer with a successful side interest in buildi ...
.
Romanticism in Scotland Romanticism in Scotland was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that developed between the late eighteenth and the early nineteenth centuries. It was part of the wider European Romantic movement, which was partly a reaction against ...
coincided with a
Scottish national identity Scottish national identity is a term referring to the sense of national identity, as embodied in the shared and characteristic culture, languages and traditions, of the Scottish people. Although the various dialects of Gaelic, the Scots lan ...
during the 19th century, and some of the most emblematic country residences of 19th-century
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 ...
were built in this style, including
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
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 ...
and
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, while in urban settings
Cockburn Street, Edinburgh Cockburn Street is a picturesque street in Edinburgh's Old Town, created as a serpentine link from the High Street to Waverley Station in 1856. It is named after the then recently-deceased Scottish lawyer, judge and literary figure Henry, Lo ...
was one street built wholly in baronial style. Baronial style buildings were typically of stone, whether
ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
or
masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...
. Following
Robert William Billings Robert William Billings (London 25 July 1812 – 14 November 1874 London) was a British architect and author. He trained as a topographical draughtsman, wrote and illustrated many books early in his career, before concentrating on his architec ...
's ''Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland'', architectural historians identified the stylistic features characteristic of the
baronial Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...
castles built from the latter 16th century as Scots baronial style, which as a revived idiom architects continued to employ up until 1930s. Scottish baronial was core influence on
Charles Rennie Mackintosh Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdo ...
s
Modern Style The Modern Style is a style of architecture, art, and design that first emerged in the United Kingdom in the mid-1880s. It is the first Art Nouveau style worldwide, and it represents the evolution of the Arts and Crafts movement which was native ...
architecture. The style was considered a British national idiom emblematic of Scotland, and was widely used for public buildings, country houses, residences and
follies ''Follies'' is a Musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on t ...
throughout the British Empire. The
Scottish National War Memorial The Scottish National War Memorial is located in Edinburgh Castle and commemorates Scottish service personnel and civilians, and those serving with Scottish regiments, who died in the two world wars and subsequent conflicts. Its chief archit ...
was the last significant monument of the baronial style, built 1920 in
Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...
after
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.


Revival and name

The Scottish baronial style is also called Scotch baronial, Scots baronial or just baronial style. The name was invented in the 19th century and may come from Robert William Billings's book ''Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland'', published in 1852. Before, the style does not seem to have had a name. The buildings produced by the Scottish baronial revival by far outnumber those of the original Scottish "baronial" castles of the Early Modern Period.


Predecessors

Scottish baronial style drew upon the buildings of the
Scottish Renaissance The Scottish Renaissance ( gd, Ath-bheòthachadh na h-Alba; sco, Scots Renaissance) was a mainly literary movement of the early to mid-20th century that can be seen as the Scottish version of modernism. It is sometimes referred to as the Scot ...
. The style of elite residences built by
barons in Scotland In Scotland, a baron or baroness is the head of a feudal barony, also known as a prescriptive barony. This used to be attached to a particular piece of land on which was situated the '' caput'' (Latin for "head") or essence of the barony, norm ...
developed under the influence of
French architecture French architecture consists of numerous architectural styles that either originated in France or elsewhere and were developed within the territories of France. History Gallo-Roman The architecture of Ancient Rome at first adopted the ext ...
and the architecture of the
County of Flanders The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries. From 862 onwards, the counts of Flanders were among the original twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries, their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Ypr ...
in the 16th century and was abandoned by about 1660. The style kept many of the features of the high-rising medieval Gothic castles and introduced Renaissance features. The high and relatively thin-walled medieval fortifications had been made obsolete by gunpowder weapons but were associated with chivalry and landed nobility. High roofs, towers and turrets were kept for status reasons. Renaissance elements were introduced. This concerned mainly the windows that became bigger, had straight lintels or round bows and typically lacked mullions. The style drew on tower houses and peel towers, retaining many of their external features. French Renaissance also kept the steep roofs of medieval castles as can be seen for example at
Azay-le-Rideau Azay-le-Rideau () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Château The château of Azay-le-Rideau was built from 1515 to 1527, one of the earliest French Renaissance châteaux. Built on an island in the river Indre, it ...
(1518), and the original Scottish baronial style might have been influenced by French masons brought to Scotland to work on royal palaces. The style was quite limited in scope: a style for lesser Scottish landlords. The walls usually are rubble work and only quoins, window dressings and copings are in ashlar. Sculpted ornaments are sparsely used. In most cases the windows lack pediments. The style often uses
corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...
led
turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...
s sometimes called tourelles,
bartizan A bartizan (an alteration of ''bratticing''), also called a guerite, ''garita'', or ''échauguette'', or spelled bartisan, is an overhanging, wall-mounted turret projecting from the walls of late medieval and early-modern fortifications from the ...
s or pepperpot turrets. The corbels supporting the turret typically are roll-moulded. Their roofs were conical. Gables are often crow-stepped. Round towers supporting square garret chambers corbelled out over the cylinder of their main bodies are particular the Scottish baronial style. They can be seen at Claypotts,
Monea Monea () is a small village and townland in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, about northwest of Enniskillen. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 114. Transport Ulsterbus route 59 provides several journeys a day to/from Enniskillen an ...
, Colliston,
Thirlestane Thirlestane Castle is a castle set in extensive parklands near Lauder in the Borders of Scotland. The site is aptly named Castle Hill, as it stands upon raised ground. However, the raised land is within Lauderdale, the valley of the Leader Wate ...
, Auchans,
Balvenie The Balvenie distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Dufftown, Scotland, owned by William Grant & Sons. History William Grant was born on 19 December 1839 in his father's house in Dufftown. At seven he began herding ...
, and Fiddes. Such castles or tower houses are typically built on asymmetric plans. Often this is a Z-plan as at Claypotts Castle (1569–1588), or on an L-plan as at Colliston. Roof lines are uneven and irregular. The Scottish baronial style coexisted even in Scotland with
Northern Renaissance The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps. From the last years of the 15th century, its Renaissance spread around Europe. Called the Northern Renaissance because it occurred north of the Italian Renais ...
architecture, which was preferred by the wealthier clients.
William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...
's work at the North Range of Linlithgow Palace (1618–1622) and at
Heriot's Hospital George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. ...
(1628–1633) are examples of a contemporaneous Scottish Renaissance architecture. Wallace worked for the Countess of Home at
Moray House The Moray House School of Education and Sport ('Moray House') is a school within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science at the University of Edinburgh. It is based in historic buildings on the Holyrood Campus, located between the C ...
on Edinburgh's
Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. It began ...
, an Anglo-Scottish client who employed the English master mason
Nicholas Stone Nicholas Stone (1586/87 – 24 August 1647) was an English sculptor and architect. In 1619 he was appointed master-mason to James I, and in 1626 to Charles I. During his career he was the mason responsible for not only the building of ...
at her London house in Aldersgate. The baronial style as well as the Scottish Renaissance style finally gave way to the grander English forms associated with
Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable archit ...
in the later part of the seventeenth century.


Scottish baronial

European architecture of the 19th century was dominated by
revivals Revival most often refers to: * Resuscitation of a person *Language revival of an extinct language * Revival (sports team) of a defunct team *Revival (television) of a former television series *Revival (theatre), a new production of a previously p ...
of various historic styles. This current took off in the middle of the 18th century with the
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
in Britain. The Gothic Revival in architecture has been seen as an expression of romanticism and according to Alvin Jackson, the Scots baronial style was "a Caledonian reading of the gothic". Some of the earliest evidence of a revival in Gothic architecture is from Scotland.
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 ...
, built starting from 1746 with design input from William Adam, incorporates turrets. These were largely conventional Palladian style houses that incorporated some external features of the Scots baronial style. William Adam's son's,
Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
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 (disambiguati ...
continued their father's approach, with houses such as
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 most clearly 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 Robert from 1777. Large windows of plate glass are not uncommon. Bay windows often have their individual roofs adorned by pinnacles and crenulations.
Porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...
es,
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 ...
s and porte-cocheres, are often given the castle treatment. An imitation
portcullis A portcullis (from Old French ''porte coleice'', "sliding gate") is a heavy vertically-closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications, consisting of a latticed grille made of wood, metal, or a combination of the two, which slides down gr ...
on the larger houses would occasionally be suspended above a front door, flanked by heraldic beasts and other medieval architectural motifs. 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 of 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' ...
. Rebuilt for him from 1816, it became a model for the Scottish baronial Revival style. Common features borrowed from 16th- and 17th-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 ...
s, spiral stairs, pointed turrets and
machicolation 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 ...
s.L. Hull, ''Britain's Medieval Castles'' (London: Greenwood, 2006), , p. 154.
Orchardton Castle Orchardton Castle overlooks the Solway Coast. Built in the 1880s, this is a Grade B listed property formerly known as Orchardton House. Built around a Scottish Baronial-style mansion located in Auchencairn in the historical county of Kirkcudbr ...
near Auchencairn, Scotland is a superb example dating from the 1880s. Important for the dissemination of the style was Robert Billings' (1813–1874) four-volume work ''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.
It was applied to many relatively modest dwellings by architects such as
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 ...
(1789–1870),
David Bryce David Bryce FRSE FRIBA RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scottish architect. Life Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David Bryce (1763–1816) a grocer with a successful side interest in buildi ...
(1803–76),
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 ...
(1787–1879), Edward Calvert (c. 1847–1914) and
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 (1859–1869).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. Dall House (1855) and
Helen's Tower Helen's Tower is a 19th-century folly and lookout tower near Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. It was built by the 5th Lord Dufferin and Claneboye and named for his mother, Helen. He intended it as a shrine for poems, first of all a poem b ...
(1848) have square-corbelled-on-round towers or turrets. 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 by Queen Victoria confirmed the popularity of the style. This architectural style was often employed for public buildings, such as
Aberdeen Grammar School Aberdeen Grammar School is a state secondary school in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of thirteen secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department. It is the oldest school in the city and one of the oldest grammar school ...
(about 1860). However, it was by no means confined to Scotland and is a fusion of the
Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
castle architecture first employed by
Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...
for Strawberry Hill and the ancient Scottish defensive
tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...
s. In the 19th century it became fashionable for private houses to be built with small turrets. Such buildings were dubbed "in Scottish baronial style". In fact the architecture often had little in common with tower houses, which retained their defensive functions and were deficient with respect to 19th-century ideas of comfort. The revival often adapted the style to the needs and technical abilities of a later time. In Ireland, a young English architect of the York School of Architecture,
George Fowler Jones George Fowler Jones (25 January 1818 – 1 March 1905) was an architect and early amateur photographer who was born in Scotland but based for most of his working life in York. Biography and work Jones was born in Inverness in 1818. He studied ...
, designed
Castle Oliver Castle Oliver (also ''Clonodfoy'') is a Victorian castle in the south part of County Limerick, Ireland. Built for entertaining rather than for defense, it has a ballroom, drawing room, library, morning room, dining room and hall which feature h ...
, a 110-room mansion of about , built in a pink sandstone similar to
Belfast Castle Belfast Castle (Irish: ''Caisleán Bhéal Feirste''Ireland Highlights: Belfast Castle. https://www.irelandhighlights.com/info/belfast-castle/ ) is a mansion located in Cave Hill Country Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in a prominent positio ...
. Castle Oliver had all the classic features of the style, including battlements,
porte-cochère A porte-cochère (; , late 17th century, literally 'coach gateway'; plural: porte-cochères, portes-cochères) is a doorway to a building or courtyard, "often very grand," through which vehicles can enter from the street or a covered porch-like ...
,
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 ...
s, numerous turrets,
arrow slit An arrowslit (often also referred to as an arrow loop, loophole or loop hole, and sometimes a balistraria) is a narrow vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows or a crossbowman can launch bolts. The interio ...
s, spiral stone staircases, and conical roofs. This form of architecture was popular in the dominions of the British Empire. In New Zealand it was advocated by the architect Robert Lawson, who designed frequently in this style, most notably at
Larnach Castle Larnach Castle (also referred to as "Larnach's Castle") is a mock castle on the ridge of the Otago Peninsula within the limits of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand, close to the small settlement of Pukehiki. It is one of a few houses of this ...
in Dunedin. Other examples in New Zealand include works by
Francis Petre Francis William Petre (27 August 1847 – 10 December 1918), sometimes known as Frank Petre, was a New Zealand-born architect based in Dunedin. He was an able exponent of the Gothic revival style, one of its best practitioners in New Zea ...
. In Canada,
Craigdarroch Castle Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, is a historic, Victorian-era Scottish Baronial mansion. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada due to its landmark status in Victoria. History It was constructed in the ...
, British Columbia, was built for
Robert Dunsmuir Robert Dunsmuir (August 31, 1825April 12, 1889) was a Scottish-Canadian coal mine developer, owner and operator, railway developer, industrialist and politician in British Columbia. He was recognized as a National Historic Person by the governm ...
, a Scottish coal baron, in 1890. In Toronto,
E. J. Lennox Edward James Lennox (September 12, 1854 – April 15, 1933) was a Toronto-based architect who designed several of the city's most notable landmarks in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including Old City Hall and Casa Loma. He ...
designed
Casa Loma Casa Loma (improper Spanish for "Hill House") is a Gothic Revival castle-style mansion and garden in midtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that is now a historic house museum and landmark. It was constructed from 1911 to 1914 as a residence for fina ...
in the
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style for Sir
Henry Pellatt Major-General Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, CVO (January 6, 1859 – March 8, 1939) was a Canadian financier and soldier. He is notable for his role in bringing hydro-electricity to Toronto for the first time, and also for his large château in Toron ...
, a prominent Canadian financier and industrialist. The mansion has battlements and towers, along with modern plumbing and other conveniences. Another Canadian example is the
Banff Springs Hotel The Fairmont Banff Springs, formerly and commonly known as the Banff Springs Hotel, is a historic hotel located in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The entire town including the hotel, is situated in Banff National Park, a national park managed by Parks C ...
in the Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. The style can also be seen outside the empire at Vorontsov Palace near the city of Yalta, Crimea. File:Dunrobin_Castle_-Sutherland_-Scotland-26May2008_(2).jpg,
Dunrobin Castle Dunrobin Castle (mostly 1835–1845 — present) is a stately home in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland, as well as the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland. It is located north of Golspie and approximatel ...
is largely the work of Sir Charles Barry and similar to the ornate conical turrets, foundations and windows of contemporary restorations such as
Josselin Castle Josselin Castle (french: Château de Josselin, br, Kastell Josilin, la, Castellum Joscelini) is a medieval castle at Josselin, in the Morbihan department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, France, first built in 1008 by Guéthénoc, ...
in Brittany. File:Victorian Scottish baronial-style tenement turrets, St. Mary's Street, Edinburgh.jpg, Scots-Baronial-style turrets on Victorian tenements in Edinburgh File:Kirna entrance.jpg, Scots baronial turret above entrance to
The Kirna The Kirna, known locally as Kirna House (previously also as Grangehill), is a Category A List of listed buildings in Innerleithen, Scottish Borders, listed villa in Walkerburn, Peeblesshire, Scotland. It is one of four villas in Walkerburn desi ...
, an 1867 Ballantyne property in
Walkerburn Walkerburn ( gd, Allt an Fhùcadair) is a small village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, on the A72 about from Peebles and from Galashiels. It was founded in 1854 to house the workers for the tweed mills owned by the Ballantyne fami ...
, Scottish Borders. File:Balmoral Castle.jpg, alt=Balmoral Castle. The Royal Standard of Scotland flies over it., Balmoral Castle shows the final Victorian embodiment of the style. A principal keep reminiscent of Craigievar is the middle of the castle, while a large turreted country house is attached. File:Balmoral Castle - Project Gutenberg 13103.jpg,
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 ...
,
Royal Deeside The River Dee ( gd, Uisge Dhè) is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through southern Aberdeenshire to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen. The area it passes through is known as Deeside, or Royal Deeside in ...
,
Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
. File:Thornhill_Mayne_Memorial,_Alfred_Park,_Allahabad.jpg,
Allahabad Public Library Allahabad Public Library, also known as Thornhill Mayne Memorial, is a public library situated at Chandrashekhar Azad Park in Prayagraj. Established in 1864, it is the biggest library in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The building was designed by ...
, in
Prayagraj Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...
, India


Decline

The popularity of the baronial style peaked towards the end of the nineteenth century, and the building of large houses declined in importance in the twentieth century. The baronial style continued to influence the construction of some estate houses, including
Skibo Castle Skibo Castle (Scottish Gaelic: ''Caisteal Sgìobail'') is located to the west of Dornoch in the Highland county of Sutherland, Scotland overlooking the Dornoch Firth. Although largely of the 19th century and early 20th century, when it was the hom ...
, which was rebuilt from 1899 to 1903 for industrialist
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
by Ross and Macbeth.D. Mays, "Housing: 4 Country seat, c. 1600–Present", in M. Lynch, ed., ''Oxford Companion to Scottish History'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), , pp. 326–8. Isolated examples included the houses designed by
Basil Spence Sir Basil Urwin Spence, (13 August 1907 – 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Moderni ...
, Broughton Place (1936) and Gribloch (1937–1939), which combined modern and baronial elements. The 20th-century Scottish baronial castles have the reputation of architectural follies. Among most patrons and architects the style became disfavoured along with the Gothic revival style during the early years of the 20th century.


See also

*
List of Gothic Revival architecture The following is a list of notable buildings in the Gothic Revival style. Argentina * Cathedral of Bariloche * Cathedral of La Plata * Cathedral of Luján * Cathedral of Mar del Plata Australia * Scots' Church, Melbourne * Vaucluse Hou ...
**
List of Gothic Revival architects List of architects involved in the Gothic Revival. * Truman O. Angell *John Lee Archer *James Piers St Aubyn * Hubert Austin *William Swinden Barber * James Oscar Betelle *Edmund Blacket *George Frederick Bodley *Giuseppe Bonavia * Stephen Dyke ...
*
Prospect 100 best modern Scottish buildings In 2005, the Scottish architecture magazine ''Prospect'' published a list of the 100 best modern Scottish buildings, as voted for by its readers. See also * DoCoMoMo Key Scottish Monuments References {{reflist Architecture in Scotland L ...


Notes


External links


Freewebs.com
The Scottish baronial: an introduction and illustrations of five notable examples.
Craigends.org.uk
a detailed study of "David Bryce's lost masterpiece", demolished in 1971.
Castle-oliver.com
photographs and history of a recently restored Scottish baronial masterpiece. {{Gothic Architecture in Scotland
Scottish 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 ...
Scottish 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 ...
16th-century architecture in the United Kingdom 17th-century architecture in the United Kingdom 16th century in Scotland 17th century in Scotland