The House of Falkland, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a 19th-century country house and has been one of the homes of John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute and the Crichton-Stuart family. The house has been designed in the 19th-century revival of late 16th and early 17th-century Elizabethan and Jacobean styles called Jacobethan.
The origins of the House of Falkland estate can be linked to nearby Falkland Palace, which lies immediately to the east. The palace was a hunting lodge of the Scottish kings, and the House of Falkland estate was gifted to the keeper of the palace. First evidence of a house at the estate can be dated to the 16th century, a simple tower house named Nuthill House, or the Place of Nuthill. [1] This was the home of Fairny family, rangers of the Lomond Hills, [2] and by 1604 a residence of the courtier and keeper of Falkland Palace, David Murray of Gospertie. [3] Murray added a wing to the house and built a new church in the village, employing John Duncan, a mason from Strathmiglo, and the master mason John Mylne. [4]
In 1821, John Bruce acquired the estate including Nuthill house. He performed various improvements to the house and built stables. Margaret Bruce inherited the estate when her uncle died in 1826. She married Onesiphours Tyndall Bruce in 1828, and they made the decision to demolish Nuthill House and built a new home, the current House of Falkland. She engaged William Burn as architect and the house was constructed between 1839 and 1844. At the same time, a formal garden was laid out.
The house is designed in a neo Jacobean style. It consists of a main block with two service wings at the rear – the east range for the male staff and the west range for the female staff. Although the service wings are much larger than the main block, the main house was decorated and positioned in such manner that it was immediately clear to the viewer that this part was superior and the other part inferior.
In 1887, John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, third marques of Bute, purchased the House of Falkland estate. At the same time, he also acquired Falkland palace. Between 1890 and 1900, the third marquess employed the architects Robert Weir Schultz and William Frame to remodel the inside, and change the landscape around the house. Upon his death, his second son Lord Ninian Edward Crichton-Stuart inherited the estate.
During the First World War the house was used as a convalescent home, and then occasionally as a holiday home in the 1920s and the 1930s. In the Second World War, it was used as a home for Polish airmen. Due to the size of the house, the Crichton-Stuart family decided to move to Falkland palace in 1944, [5] where they still reside up to this day. Although, the National Trust for Scotland has been brought in to help with the maintenance of the palace. The Crichton-Stuart family has transferred the ownership of the House of Falkland to the Falkland Stewardship Trust, who has leased it to Falkland House School, which provides education for boys with additional support needs. The estate is still owned by the family, but they are considering to move the ownership as well to the Falkland Stewardship Trust. [6] [7]
Marquess of the County of Bute, shortened in general usage to Marquess of Bute, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute.
Earl of Dumfries is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was originally created for William Crichton, 9th Lord Crichton of Sanquhar, in 1633, and stayed in the Crichton family until the death of the fourth countess in 1742, at which point the title passed to first the Dalrymple and then the MacDouall families before finally being inherited by the Marquesses of Bute, where it remains today.
John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, was a Scottish landed aristocrat, industrial magnate, antiquarian, scholar, philanthropist, and architectural patron.
Crichton may refer to:
Falkland Palace, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish Kings. It was one of the favourite places of Mary, Queen of Scots, who took refuge there from political and religious turmoil of her times.
Bute House is the official residence of the first minister of Scotland located within Charlotte Square in Edinburgh. Located at 6 Charlotte Square in the New Town, it is the central house on the north side of the square and was designed by Robert Adam. Bute House was conveyed to the National Trust for Scotland by the 6th Marquess of Bute in 1966. Between 1970 and 1999, it served as the official residence of the secretary of state for Scotland and since July 1999, it has been the official residence of the First Minister.
John Crichton-Stuart, 4th Marquess of Bute, KT, was a Scottish peer.
John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, KT, FRS, styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1794 and 1814, was a wealthy Scottish aristocrat and industrialist in Georgian and early Victorian Britain. He developed the coal and iron industries across South Wales and built the Cardiff Docks.
John Crichton-Stuart, 5th Marquess of Bute, was the son of John Crichton-Stuart, 4th Marquess of Bute, and Augusta Bellingham.
John Crichton-Stuart, 6th Marquess of Bute, was a Scottish peer, benefactor and patron of the arts. He was largely known either as Lord Bute or simply John Bute.
Falkland, previously in the Lands of Kilgour, is a village, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, at the foot of the Lomond Hills. According to the 2022 census it has a population of 1,041.
Patrick McDouall-Crichton, 6th Earl of Dumfries was a Scottish peer. He was the son of John McDouall of Freugh and Elizabeth Dalrymple-Crichton.
Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Ninian Edward Crichton-Stuart was a Scottish senior officer in the British Army and Member of Parliament. He was killed in action in the First World War. The second son of the Honourable Gwendolen Mary Anne Fitzalan-Howard and John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, he entered the army in 1903 and served in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders and the Scots Guards as a lieutenant. After marrying he began a career in politics, serving first as a councillor on Fife County Council, Scotland. His family having close connections to the city of Cardiff in Wales, he fought and lost the January 1910 election there as a Liberal Unionist candidate. The resulting hung parliament led to a second election in December 1910, in which Crichton-Stuart won the seat.
Clan Stewart is a Scottish Highland and Lowland clan. The clan is recognised by Court of the Lord Lyon; however, it does not have a clan chief recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. Because the clan has no chief it can be considered an armigerous clan; however, the Earls of Galloway are now considered to be the principal branch of this clan, and the crest and motto of The Earls of Galloway's arms are used in the Clan Stewart crest badge. The Court of the Lord Lyon recognises two other Stewart/Stuart clans, Clan Stuart of Bute and Clan Stewart of Appin. Stuart of Bute is the only one of the three clans at present which has a recognised chief.
Ninian Crichton Stuart is the Hereditary Keeper of Falkland Palace, a former Scottish royal palace in Fife.
Dumfries House is a Palladian country house in Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located within a large estate, around two miles (3 km) west of Cumnock. Noted for being one of the few such houses with much of its original 18th-century furniture still present, including specially commissioned Thomas Chippendale pieces, the house and estate is now owned by The King's Foundation, a charity which maintains it as a visitor attraction and hospitality and wedding venue. Both the house and the gardens are listed as significant aspects of Scottish heritage.
Clan Stuart of Bute is a Highland Scottish Clan and is a branch of the larger Clan Stewart.
Robert Weir Schultz, later Robert Weir Schultz Weir and known as R. W. S. Weir, was a Scottish Arts and Crafts architect, artist, landscape designer and furniture designer. He did much work on the Isle of Bute. Almost all of his buildings are now category A listed buildings, reflecting the high quality of his work.
Alexander Roos was an Italian-born British architect and urban planner. He was the architect to the Bute Estates in South Wales, for which he designed many buildings and laid out several areas of Cardiff.
John Murray, 1st Earl of Annandale was a Scottish courtier and Member of Parliament.