The Glen, also known as Glen House, is an estate and country house in the parish of
Traquair
Traquair () is a small village and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the Scottish Borders; Counties of Scotland, until 1975 it was in the county of Peeblesshire. The village is situated on the B709 road south of Innerleithen at .
H ...
,
[ southern Scotland. It is located in the glen of the Quair Water, around south-west of ]Innerleithen
Innerleithen () 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 from the Scottish G ...
, and south-east of Peebles
Peebles () is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in ...
, in the Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...
. The estate is recorded from the 13th century, however 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:
General uses
*Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy
* Category of being
* ''Categories'' (Aristotle)
* Category (Kant)
* Categories (Peirce)
*Category (V ...
,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.
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 (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...
.[ 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 elected by and is the convener of the City of Edinburgh Council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the Lord-Lieutenant of ...
from 1829 to 1831, commissioned William Henry Playfair
William Henry Playfair Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town, Edinburgh, New Town and many of Edinb ...
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 Calcium hypochlorite, bleaching powder and founded an industrial dynasty.
Biography
Charles Tennant was born at Laigh Corton, Alloway, Ayrs ...
(1823–1906). Tennant commissioned David Bryce
David Bryce Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE FRIBA Royal Scottish Academy, RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scotland, Scottish architect.
Life
Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David B ...
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: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
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 14th ...
. 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 Margot ( , ) is a feminine given name, a French language, French diminutive of Marguerite (given name), Marguerite that has long been used as an independent name. Variant spellings in use include Margo (given name), Margo and Margaux (name), Margaux ...
married the future Prime Minister H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...
. On Sir Charles's death in 1906 the estate passed to his son Edward
Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...
(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 and ...
in 1911.[
Following a fire at The Glen in 1905, ]Robert Lorimer
Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, Order of the British Empire, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scotland, Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, f ...
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 ( Barnardo, formerly Wellcome; 10 July 1879 – 25 July 1955) was a leading British interior decorator of the 1920s and 1930s who popularised rooms decorated entirely in white.
Early life
Gwendoline Maud Syrie Ba ...
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. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II.
...
, the Queen Elizabeth II'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