Scottish baronial style - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Scottish Baronial style is part of the Gothic Revival architecture

Gothic Revival architecture

The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

style, using stylistic elements and forms from castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

s, tower house

Tower house

A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...

s and mansion

Mansion

A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...

s of the Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

period in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, such as Craigievar Castle

Craigievar Castle

Craigievar Castle is a pinkish harled castle six miles south of Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was the seat of Clan Sempill. The setting is among scenic rolling foothills of the Grampian Mountains...

and Newark Castle, Port Glasgow

Newark Castle, Port Glasgow

Newark Castle is a well-preserved castle sited on the south shore of the estuary of the River Clyde in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, Scotland, where the firth gradually narrows from the Firth of Clyde and navigation upriver is made difficult by shifting sandbanks...

. The revival style was popular from the early 19th century until World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. One of the earliest proponents of the style was Sir Walter Scott

Characteristics

Buildings of the style frequently feature tower

Tower

A tower is a tall structure, usually taller than it is wide, often by a significant margin. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires....

s adorned by small turret

Turret

In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...

s. Roof lines are uneven, their crenelated battlement

Battlement

A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...

s often broken by stepped gables. While small lancet window

Lancet window

A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...

s may appear in towers and gables, large bay windows of plate glass were not uncommon, but even these often had their individual roofs adorned by pinnacles and crenelation. Porch

Porch

A porch is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.There are various styles of porches, all of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location...

es, portico

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...

s and porte-cochere

Porte-cochere

A porte-cochère is the architectural term for a porch- or portico-like structure at a main or secondary entrance to a building through which a horse and carriage can pass in order for the occupants to alight under cover, protected from the weather.The porte-cochère was a feature of many late 18th...

s, were often given the castle treatment, an imitation portcullis

Portcullis

A portcullis is a latticed grille made of wood, metal, fibreglass or a combination of the three. Portcullises fortified the entrances to many medieval castles, acting as a last line of defence during time of attack or siege...

on the larger houses would occasionally be suspended above a front door, flanked by heraldic

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

beasts and other medieval architectural motif

Motif (art)

In art, a motif is an element of a pattern, an image or part of one, or a theme. A motif may be repeated in a design or composition, often many times, or may just occur once in a work. A motif may be an element in the iconography of a particular subject or type of subject that is seen in other...

s.
This architectural style was often employed for public buildings, such as Aberdeen Grammar School

Aberdeen Grammar School

Aberdeen Grammar School, known to students as The Grammar is a state secondary school in the City of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of twelve secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department...

. However, it was by no means confined to Scotland and is, in truth, a fusion of the Gothic revival castle architecture first employed by Horace Walpole for his Twickenham

Twickenham

Twickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...

villa, Strawberry Hill

Strawberry Hill House

Strawberry Hill is the Gothic Revival villa of Horace Walpole which he built in the second half of the 18th century in what is now an affluent area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in Twickenham, London...

, and the ancient Scottish defensive tower house

Tower house

s. In the 19th century it became fashionable for private houses to be built with small turrets and 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 20th-century Scottish Baronial castles have had the reputation of architectural follies

Folly

In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...

. Among most patrons and architects the style became disfavoured along with the Gothic revival style during the early years of the 20th century.

Examples

The Scottish Baronial style was promoted by such architects as Edward Blore

Edward Blore

Edward Blore was a 19th century British landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland ....

; this form of architecture was popular in the dominions of the British Empire. One of the earliest examples of Scottish Baronial style was Abbotsford House

Abbotsford House

Abbotsford is a historic house in the region of the Scottish Borders in the south of Scotland, near Melrose, on the south bank of the River Tweed. It was formerly the residence of historical novelist and poet, Walter Scott...

, the residence the famous novelist and poet, Sir Walter Scott

Walter Scott

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....

, built for himself on the Tweed River

Tweed River

Tweed River may refer to:*River Tweed, which flows from the Scottish Borders into the North Sea at Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, forming the border between Scotland and England along part of its route*River Tweed, Leicestershire in England...

in the Scottish Border Country

Border Country

Border Country is a novel by Raymond Williams. The book was re-published in December 2005 as one of the first group of titles in the Library of Wales series, having been out of print for several years. Written in English, the novel was first published in 1960.It is set in rural South Wales, close...

.

The style was popular in Scotland and was applied to many relatively modest dwellings by architects such as Edward Calvert

Edward Calvert (architect)

Edward Calvert was a Scottish domestic architect.Calvert's work appears to have been exclusively confined to Edinburgh, and was mostly concerned with the creation of Baronial tenements and villas in the Second Empire and Jacobean styles...

. Ironically, several real Scottish castles were rebuilt in the Scottish Baronial style. During the 19th century it became fashionable for the aristocracy to leave London to visit Scotland during the month of August for the shooting, and many aristocrats favoured this style for the shooting and sporting estates they created at this time in Scotland, often building "castles" of immense proportions such as Skibo Castle

Skibo Castle

Skibo Castle is located to the west of Dornoch in the Highland county of Sutherland, Scotland overlooking the Dornoch Firth. Although the castle dates back to the 12th century, the present structure is largely of the 19th century, and early 20th century, when it was the home of industrialist...

and Balmoral Castle

Balmoral Castle

Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and east of Braemar. Balmoral has been one of the residences of the British Royal Family since 1852, when it was purchased by Queen Victoria and her...

.

In Ireland a young English architect of the York School of Architecture, George Fowler Jones

George Fowler Jones

George Fowler Jones, was an architect , who was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, but based for most of his working life in York.-Biography and work:...

, designed Castle Oliver

Castle Oliver

Castle Oliver is a Victorian mock 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 hand-painted ceilings, decorated ornamental corbels, superbly executed...

, a 110 room mansion of approx 29000 sq ft (2,694.2 m²), built in a similar pink sandstone to Belfast Castle

Belfast Castle

Belfast Castle is set on the slopes of Cavehill Country Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland in a prominent position above sea level. Its location provides unobstructed views of the city of Belfast and Belfast Lough.-History:...

. Castle Oliver

Castle Oliver

had all the classic features of the style, including battlement

Battlement

s, porte-cochere, crow-stepped gable

Crow-stepped gable

A Stepped gable, Crow-stepped gable, or Corbie step is a stair-step type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building...

s, numerous turret

Turret

s, arrow slits, spiral stone staircases, and conical 'witch's hat' roofs. (see below, External Links)
In New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

it was advocated by the architect Robert Lawson

Robert Lawson (architect)

Robert Arthur Lawson was one of New Zealand's pre-eminent 19th century architects. It has been said he did more than any other designer to shape the face of the Victorian era architecture of the city of Dunedin...

who designed frequently in this style most notably at Larnach Castle

Larnach Castle

Larnach Castle , is an imposing mansion on the ridge of the Otago Peninsula within the limits of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand, close to the small settlement of Pukehiki...

in Dunedin

Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

; now once again a private home, but open to the public. Other examples in New Zealand include works by Francis Petre

Francis Petre

Francis William "Frank" Petre was a prominent New Zealand-born architect based in Dunedin. He was an able exponent of the Gothic revival style, one of its best practitioners in New Zealand. He followed the Roman Church's initiative to build Catholic places of worship in Anglo-Saxon countries in...

. In Victoria, British Columbia, Craigdarroch Castle

Craigdarroch Castle

Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, British Columbia, is a historic, Victorian-era Scottish Baronial mansion. The mansion was designated a National Historic Site of Canada due to its landmark status in Victoria.-Description:...

, built for Robert Dunsmuir

Robert Dunsmuir

Robert Dunsmuir was a Scottish-Canadian coal miner, railway developer, industrialist and politician. -Origins in Scotland:...

, a Scottish coal barron, in 1890. In Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

Casa Loma

Casa Loma is a Gothic Revival style house in midtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that is now a museum and landmark. It was originally a residence for financier Sir Henry Mill Pellatt. Casa Loma was constructed over a three-year period from 1911–1914. The architect of the mansion was E. J...

was built on a hilltop site, 1911 – 14, for Sir Henry Pellatt

Henry Pellatt

Major-General Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, C.V.O. was a well-known Canadian financier and soldier....

, a prominent financier and industrialist. His architect, E. J. Lennox

E. J. Lennox

Edward James Lennox 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...

, provided him with battlements and towers, tempered by modern plumbing and other conveniences. Another Canadian example is the Banff Springs Hotel

Banff Springs Hotel

The Fairmont Banff Springs or simply the Banff Springs Hotel is a former railway hotel constructed in Scottish Baronial style located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The original hotel, designed by American architect Bruce Price, was built between spring of 1887 and 1888 by the Canadian...

in the Banff National Park

Banff National Park

Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 in the Rocky Mountains. The park, located 110–180 kilometres west of Calgary in the province of Alberta, encompasses of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine...

in Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, Canada. This hotel is still very much in use.

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.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Characteristics

Examples

See also

External links