Howden House is a late 18th-century house in the

Howden Howden () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of York to the north of the M62 motorway, M62, on the A614 road about south-east of York and north of Goole, ...

area of

Livingston, West Lothian Livingston (, ) is the largest town in West Lothian, Scotland. Designated in 1962, it is the fourth post-war New towns in the United Kingdom, new town to be built in Scotland. Taking its name from Livingston Village, a village of the same name ...

, Scotland.

History

The estate on which the house stands belonged to the Douglas family of

Pumpherston Pumpherston is a village in West Lothian, Scotland. Originally a small industrial village housing works for the nearby shale mine and works, it now forms the eastern part of the new town of Livingston, which was constructed to the west of Pumph ...

. It was recorded as far back as the 16th century, when it was known as Over Howden. It was built probably for Thomas Farquharson of Howden, and was completed in 1795. In 1834 it passed to Henry Raeburn, son of the

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

portrait painter

Sir Henry Raeburn Sir Henry Raeburn (; 4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland. Biography Raeburn was born the son of a manufacturer in Stockbridge, on the Water of Leith: a for ...

. The daughter of the chemist James Young lived in the house until her death in 1931, when it was sold to Sir

Adrian Baillie Sir Adrian William Maxwell Baillie, 6th Baronet DL (5 May 1898 – 8 January 1947) was a British MP for two constituencies. Early life Baillie was born on 5 May 1898. He was the second son of Sir Robert Alexander Baillie, 4th Baronet (1859� ...

of Polkemmet, who bought it for his mother, Lady Baillie. Just after midnight on Tuesday 25 June 1940 a bomb fell on the coach house and stables, killing Mrs Maria Fleming and her granddaughter Margaret, aged 10. These were the first civilians to be killed on the Scottish mainland and West Lothian's only deaths by bombing in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Lady Baillie lived at Howden until her death in 1946, when it was bought by the

Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

, who used the estate to test agricultural machinery. Livingston, one of Scotland's post-war

new town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

s, was developed around the estate in the 1960s, with the grounds to the south of the house remaining open as a park. The house was bought by Livingston Development Corporation for use as a community centre, supported by the

Carnegie United Kingdom Trust The Carnegie United Kingdom Trust is an independent, endowed charitable trust based in Scotland that operates throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Originally established with an endowment from Andrew Carnegie in his birthplace of Dunfermline ...

. After two decades of neglect the building was sold by

West Lothian council West Lothian Council is the Local government in Scotland, local government authority for West Lothian, West Lothian council area. History West Lothian District Council Local government across Scotland was reorganised in 1975 under the Local ...

to a private developer, who converted the building into 1 large townhouse and 4 small flats during 2012/2013. Howden House is a category B

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Howden Park Centre

The former stable block of the house was converted into an arts centre, which was first opened as Howden Park Centre in 1972, by actor

Andrew Cruickshank Andrew John Maxton Cruickshank (25 December 190729 April 1988) was a Scottish actor, most famous for his portrayal of Dr Cameron in the long-running UK BBC television series ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'', which ran for 191 episodes from 1962 until ...

. In 2009, the centre was extensively refurbished by architects Nicoll Russell Studios.

References

External links

Howden Park Centre
{{coord, 55, 53, 33.44, N, 3, 30, 59.81, W, region:GB, display=title Category B listed buildings in West Lothian Listed houses in Scotland Livingston, West Lothian Country houses in West Lothian