The Glen, also known as Glen House, is an estate and country house in the parish of

Traquair Traquair ( gd, Cille Bhrìghde) is a small village and civil parish in the Scottish Borders; until 1975 it was in the county of Peeblesshire. The village is situated on the B709 road south of Innerleithen at . History Traquair, said to mea ...

, southern Scotland. It is located in the glen of the Quair Water, around south-west of

Innerleithen Innerleithen ( gd, Inbhir Leitheann) is a civil parish and a small town in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders. It was formerly in the historic county of Peeblesshire or Tweeddale. Etymology The name "Innerleithen" comes f ...

, and south-east of

Peebles Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...

, in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lot ...

. The estate is recorded from the 13th century, but the present Glen House was built in the mid 19th century. The house is protected as a

category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) * ...

, and the grounds are included in the

Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland The ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland'' is a listing of gardens and designed landscapes of national artistic and/or historical significance, in Scotland. The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a cont ...

, the national listing of significant gardens. Besides the house, the Temple, stables, and the "Lion Gate" are also category A listed.

History

In 1296, it is recorded that Sarra of the Glen swore allegiance to

King Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vass ...

. The estate was later split up, and comprised the two estates of Easter Glen and Wester Glen by the 18th century. It was reunited under the ownership of Edinburgh banker Alexander Allan in 1796, who purchased Easter Glen in that year for £10,500. His son William Allan of Glen,

Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is the convener of the City of Edinburgh local authority, who is elected by the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the ...

from 1829 to 1831, commissioned

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 ...

to extend the existing farmhouse. The first parklands were laid out at this time, with drainage and planting carried out around the house, and a garden temple, designed by Playfair, was built. In 1852, The Glen was purchased, along with , by the industrialist

Charles Tennant Charles Tennant (3 May 1768 – 1 October 1838) was a Scottish chemist and industrialist. He discovered bleaching powder and founded an industrial dynasty. Biography Charles Tennant was born at Laigh Corton, Alloway, Ayrshire, the sixth of thi ...

(1823–1906). Tennant commissioned

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 ...

to design a new house, which was built in the

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 ...

style between 1854 and 1855. Bryce was commissioned to add a tower to the house in 1874. Tennant also carried out improvements in the parks until the 1890s, adding farm buildings, a kitchen garden, estate cottages and a school. Tennant sat in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

from 1879 to 1885, in which year he was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

. His family became prominent members of late Victorian and Edwardian society, and The Glen was regularly used by shooting parties. In 1894 his daughter Margot married the future Prime Minister

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

. On Sir Charles's death in 1906 the estate passed to his son

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...

(1859–1920), who was created

Baron Glenconner Baron Glenconner, of The Glen in the County of Peebles, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1911 for Sir Edward Tennant, 2nd Baronet, who had earlier represented Salisbury in the House of Commons as a Liberal an ...

in 1911. Following a fire at The Glen in 1905,

Robert 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 Got ...

was commissioned to oversee repairs and remodelling of the interior. Formal gardens were also added at this time, to Lorimer's design. Further interior decoration was carried out by family friend

Syrie Maugham Gwendoline Maud Syrie Maugham (''née'' Barnardo, formerly Wellcome; 10 July 1879 – 25 July 1955) was a leading British interior decorator of the 1920s and 1930s who popularized rooms decorated entirely in white. Birth Syrie Maugham was born ...

in the 1920s. Another family friend,

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...

, the Queen's sister, visited The Glen on several occasions. The Glen remains in the possession of the Tennant family, and is leased out for film shoots and conferences and has hosted seminars and other events on green finance and sustainability issues.

References

External links

Official Glen House website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glen, The Country houses in the Scottish Borders Scottish gardens in the English Landscape Garden style Gardens in the Scottish Borders Houses completed in 1855 Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Category A listed buildings in the Scottish Borders Listed houses in Scotland Tennant family Peeblesshire