Basic Site Details Name: | Palace of Holyroodhouse | City or county: | Edinburgh | Country: | Scotland | Parish: | | Status: | A listed | Grid ref: | | Notes: | List description notes that John Fowler was involved at some stage but does not make clear what his input was.
Chapel now demolished.
Robert Reid work:
SE portion rebuilt; SE quarter refloored, replastered, new woodwork, Duke of Hamiltpon's apartment woodwork cut out, new plaster and woodwork refinished. Also rebuilding part of the south wall forming the garden front of the palace tpowards the east, new roof over north west angle. Duke of Hamilton's (commendator's0 house removed; one of the south towers in common rublle completely rebuilt in ashlar, parapaets of towers renewed. South side refaced in ashlar. Alterations to interior cost £1945. Abbey Court almost completely taken down and rebuilt.
John Douglas repair work (abstract from article by Dimitris Theodossopoulos):
The collapse of the significant church of Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh in December 1768 is discussed as the result of the ill-conceived repair of the roof in 1760, i.e., the substitution of the timber trusses with closelyspaced diaphragm masonry walls that aggravated the delicate equilibrium of the vaults and the poor state of a building being mutilated over 250 years. This study interprets these repairs by demonstrating the authorship and partnership of the architect John Douglas with the mason-developer James McPherson, who combined architectural ambition (the aesthetics of a flagstone roof) with the (cheaper) option of diaphragms, which would not involve a wright. The detailed examination of the procurement, the process of the intervention, the collapse, and the limited impact of its aftermath, are framed in a wider technical and historical context in Edinburgh and Scotland, during a period marked by several failures of medieval churches, and reveals a poor understanding of a critical element in Gothic construction. Analysis of all public archive material available sheds light on key events of the case, and critical study of the work of the two partners’ attempts to identify the intentions of their project, whose limitations were inevitable once the partnership was formed. | Building Type ClassificationThe building is classified under the following categories: | | Classification | Original classification? | Notes | | Palace | | |
EventsThe following date-based events are associated with this building: | | From | To | Event type | Notes | | | | | Ceiling of picture gallery renewed | | 1616 | 1617 | Addition | Decoration and furnishing of Chapel Royal. | | 1633 | | Alterations and additions(?) | | | 1663 | | Plans drawn up | For completion of second floor | | 1671 | 1678 | Alterations and additions | | | 1733 | 1734 | Repair | | | 1754 | 1757 | Repair | Theo Dossopoulos indicates the repair work was carried out in 1760, leading to collapse in 1768. | | 1824 | 1834 | Repair | Repairs and redecoration. Rebuilding of the south east quarter which had beendmaged by subsidence and refaced the south front (originally rubble) in ashlar. | | 1842 | | | Internal work | | 1855 | 1856 | | Refitting of the Throne Room, paintwork and paper by D R Hay | | 1910 | 1913 | | Interior work (under supervision of W T Oldrieve) | | 1927 | | | Throne Room, panelling and ceiling | | 1930 | | | King's Dressing Room and Evening Drawings Room, panelling |
PeopleDesign and ConstructionThe following individuals or organisations have carried out design/construction work. Where architects or practices worked together, matching letters appear beside their names in the Partnership Group column. | | Name | Role | Partnership Group | From | To | Notes | | Inigo Jones | | J | 1616 | 1617 | Decoration and furnishing of Chapel Royal | | William Aytoun | | H | 1633 | | Working at Holyrood. | | John Mylne junior | | U | 1663 | | Drew up a survey of the second floor showing how it was to be completed. Not executed until after his death. | | (Sir) William Bruce | | S | 1671 | 1678 | With Robert Mylne | | Robert Mylne | | T | 1671 | 1678 | Rebuilding under the direction of Sir William Bruce | | William Adam | | W | 1733 | 1734 | Repairs | | William Adam | | X | 1740 | | Decoration of apartment for 5th Duke of Hamilton | | John Douglas | | Z | 1754 | 1760 | Repairs. With mason-developer James McPherson. | | Robert Reid | | U | 1824 | 1834 | Repairs and redecoration. Rebuilding of the south east quarter which had been damaged by subsidence and refaced the south front (originally rubble) in ashlar. Parliamentary grant of £24,755 toward this. | | H M Office of Works (later Ministry of Works, Department of the Environment and Property Services Agency) | | B | 1842 | | Internal alterations with Nixon as Architect for Scotland | | William Nixon | | B | 1842 | | Internal alterations - as architect for Scotland in the Office of Works | | H M Office of Works (later Ministry of Works, Department of the Environment and Property Services Agency) | | C | 1855 | 1856 | Refitting of the Throne Room, paintwork and paper by D R Hay (Matheson as architect for Scotland in the Office of Works) | | Robert Matheson | | C | 1855 | 1856 | Refitting of the Throne Room, paintwork and paper by D R Hay (Matheson as architect for Scotland in the Office of Works) | | H M Office of Works (later Ministry of Works, Department of the Environment and Property Services Agency) | | D | 1860 | | Replanning of 2nd floor as the Duke of Hamilton's and Marquess of Breadalbane's apartments (with Matheson as architect for Scotland) | | Robert Matheson | | D | 1860 | | Replanning of 2nd floor as the Duke of Hamilton's and Marquess of Breadalbane's apartments (Matheson as architect for Scotland) | | Charles Ernest Jackson | | E | 1910 | 1913(?) | Decoration of West Drawing Room - as assistant to Oldrieve in H M Office of Works | | H M Office of Works (later Ministry of Works, Department of the Environment and Property Services Agency) | | E | 1910 | 1913 | 1980-30 United Services Museum, and 1930 King's Dressing Room | | John Wilson Paterson | | E | 1910 | 1913 | Interior work (under supervision of W T Oldrieve), working as assistant in Office of Works (as architect for Scotland in Office of Works) | | William Thomas Oldrieve (sometimes William Thomas Oldgrieve) | | E | 1910 | 1913 | Supervised John Wilson Paterson's work | | H M Office of Works (later Ministry of Works, Department of the Environment and Property Services Agency) | | F | 1927 | | Panelling and ceiling in Throne Room | | John Wilson Paterson | | F | 1927 | | Panelling and ceiling in Throne Room (as architect for Scotland in Office of Works) | | H M Office of Works (later Ministry of Works, Department of the Environment and Property Services Agency) | | G | c. 1930 | | Evening Drawing Room and King's Wardrobe, panelling | | John Wilson Paterson | | G | c. 1930 | | Evening Drawing Room and King's Wardrobe, panelling (as architect for Scotland in Office of Works) | | George Hay | | H | 1968 | | Ceiling of picture gallery renewed - as architect in the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works | | H M Office of Works (later Ministry of Works, Department of the Environment and Property Services Agency) | | H | 1968 | | Ceiling of picture gallery renewed with George Hay as architect in the Ministry of Public Buildings and Work |
ClientsThe following individuals or organisations have commissioned work on this building/design: | | Name | Notes | | Charles II, King | Client for William Bruce work | | Hamilton, 5th Duke of | Client for William Adam decoration of apartment |
Related Buildings, Structures and DesignsChild Structures
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this building: | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Colvin, Howard | 2008 | A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 | | London: YUP. 4th edition | | | Dunbar, John J | 1999 | Scottish Royal Palaces | | | pp55-74 | | Gifford, John, McWilliam, Colin and Walker, David M | 1984 | Edinburgh (The Buildings of Scotland) | | Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd | pp129, 144-146 | | Gow, Ian | 1987 | Elegance on a shoestring | | Country Life, 30 July 1987 | | | Gow, Ian | 2005 | The Palace of Holyroodhouse: official guidebook | | | | | Imrie, J and Dunbar, J (eds.) | 1982 | Accounts of the Masters of Works | ii | | Chapters lxxxvi-lxxxvii | | McKean, Charles | 1992 | Edinburgh: an illustrated architectural guide | | | pp41-43 | | Mylne, R S | | The Master Masons to the Crown of Scotland | | | Chapter 9-10 (pp148-9) | | Richardson, J S | 1978 | The Abbey and Palace of Holyroodhouse | | | | | Theodossopoulos, Dimitris | 2016 | The Catastrophic Repairs of Holyrood Abbey Church in 1760 | v 10, issue 7 | International Journal of Architectural Heritage, Conservation, Analysis and Restoration | |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this building: | | Source | Archive name | Source catalogue no. | Notes | | Bodleian Library | Gough Maps and Documents | 39, f. 1v | | | British Library | Egerton MSS | 2870-1 | Drawings and contracts | | Edinburgh University Library | Laing Manuscripts | Laing II, 88 | | | Historic Environment Scotland | Listed Buildings Register | 28022 | | | National Archives | Calendar of State Papers Domestic | 1671, 295-6 | | | National Archives of Scotland (formerly SRO) | Gifts and deposits | GD 31/554 | John Adam v. The Duke of Hamilton, 1770 | | National Archives of Scotland (NAS) | Holyroodhouse building accounts | | | | National Monuments Record of Scotland/NMRS, RCAHMS | Watherston Collection | | EDD 4/187/1-2 (panelling in west drawing room)
| | National Records of Scotland (formerly SRO, later NAS) | Ministry of Works files | | Includes General Report on Works executed at Holyroodhouse by Reid, 1836. | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | Charles Ernest Jackson: L v24 no1986 |
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