View source for Abbotsford, Scottish Borders

{{short description|Historic house in the region of the Scottish Borders}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{Infobox building
| name                = Abbotsford
| native_name         =
| native_name_lang    =
| former_names        = Cartleyhole, Clarty Hole
| alternate_names     =
| status              =
| image               = Abbotsford Morris edited.jpg
| image_alt           =
| image_size          = 300px
| caption             = Abbotsford in 1880
| map_type            = Scotland Scottish Borders
| map_alt             =
| map_caption         = Location in the Scottish Borders
| relief              =
| altitude            =
| building_type       = [[Scottish baronial architecture|Baronial Mansion]]
| architectural_style = [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]]
| structural_system   =
| cost                =
| ren_cost            =
| client              =
| owner               = Scott Family
| current_tenants     =
| landlord            =
| location            = Scottish Borders
| address             = Galashiels
| location_town       =Near [[Galashiels]]
| location_country    = Scotland
| coordinates         = {{coord|55|35|59|N|2|46|55|W|region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| groundbreaking_date =
| start_date          =
| completion_date     =
| opened_date         =
| inauguration_date   =
| renovation_date     = 1817–1825
| awards              =
| designations        = Category A [[Listed Building]]
}}
'''Abbotsford''' is a historic [[Scottish estate houses|country house]] in the [[Scottish Borders]], near [[Galashiels]], on the south bank of the [[River Tweed]]. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir [[Walter Scott]] between 1817 and 1825.<ref>James C. Corson, ''Notes and Index to Sir Herbert Grierson's Edition of the Letters of Sir Walter Scott'' (Oxford, 1979), pp. 343–344.</ref> It is a Category A [[Listed Building]]{{sfn|Historic Environment Scotland LB15104|ignore-err=yes}} and the estate is listed in the [[Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland]].{{sfn|Historic Environment Scotland GDL00001|ignore-err=yes}}
==Description==
[[File:Abbotsford by Henry Fox Talbot.jpg|thumb|left|Abbotsford by [[Henry Fox Talbot]], 1844]]
[[File:Abbotsford.House.ground.plan.jpg|thumb|left|Ground plan of Abbotsford.]]
The nucleus of the estate was a farm of {{convert|100|acre|km2}}, called Cartleyhole, nicknamed Clarty (i.e., muddy) Hole, and was bought by Scott on the lapse of his lease (1811) of the neighbouring house of Ashestiel.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Scott renamed it "Abbotsford" after a neighbouring [[Ford (crossing)|ford]] used by the monks of Melrose Abbey.<ref name=scottsabbotsford>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scottsabbotsford.com/visit/the-house |title=Abbotsford – The Home of Sir Walter Scott |website=Abbotsford – The Home of Sir Walter Scott |access-date=16 October 2020}}</ref>
Following a modest enlargement of the original farmhouse in 1811–1812, massive expansions took place in 1816–1819 and 1822–1824. In this mansion Scott gathered a large library, a collection of ancient furniture, arms and armour, and other relics and curiosities especially connected with [[Scottish history]], notably the Celtic [[Torrs Pony-cap and Horns]] and the [[Woodwrae Stone]], all now in the [[Museum of Scotland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nms.ac.uk/torrsponycap|title=Torrs pony cap|publisher=Museum of Scotland|access-date=25 July 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/34845/woodrae-castle|title=Woodrae Castle: Cross Slab(S) (Pictish), Pictish Symbol Stone(S) (Pictish)|work=Canmore|access-date=25 July 2018}}</ref> Scott described the resulting building as "a sort of romance in Architecture"<ref>Grierson, ''op. cit.'', 8.129: Scott to John Richardson, [November–December 1823].</ref> and "a kind of Conundrum Castle to be sure".<ref>''The Journal of Sir Walter Scott'', ed. W. E. K. Anderson (Oxford, 1972), 11: 7 January 1828.</ref>
The last and principal acquisition was that of Toftfield (afterwards named Huntlyburn), purchased in 1817. The new house was then begun and completed in 1824.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
The general ground-plan is a parallelogram, with irregular outlines, one side overlooking the Tweed; and the style is mainly the [[Scottish Baronial]]. With his architects William Atkinson and Edward Blore Scott was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial style of architecture: the house is recognized as a highly influential creation with themes from Abbotsford being reflected across many buildings in the Scottish Borders and beyond.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Buck|first=Michael|date=1 November 2013|title=Early Planning at Abbotsford, 1811–12: Walter Scott, William Stark and the Cottage that Never Was|journal=Architectural Heritage|volume=24|pages=41–65|doi=10.3366/arch.2013.0045 }}</ref>
The manor as a whole appears as a "castle-in-miniature", with small towers and imitation battlements decorating the house and garden walls.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Irving|first=Gordon|date=July 1971|title=Sir Walter Scott's Abbotsford|journal=The Christian Science Monitor|page=13|via=ProQuest}}</ref> Into various parts of the fabric were built relics and curiosities from historical structures, such as the doorway of the [[Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh|old Tolbooth]] in Edinburgh.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
Scott collected many of these curiosities to be built into the walls of the South Garden, which previously hosted a colonnade of gothic arches along the garden walls. Along the path of the former colonnade sits the remains of Edinburgh's 15th century [[Mercat cross|Mercat Cross]] and several examples of classical sculpture.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/3314732/The-ugliest-place-on-Tweedside.html|title=The ugliest place on Tweedside|last=Russell|first=Vivian|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=10 October 2003|access-date=20 November 2018|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>
The estate and its neo-Medieval features nod towards Scott's desire for a historical feel, but the writer ensured that the house would provide all the comforts of modern living. As a result, Scott used the space as a proving-ground for new technologies. The house was outfitted with early gas lighting and pneumatic bells connecting residents with servants elsewhere in the house.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rigney|first=Ann|date=2007|title=Abbotsford: Dislocation and Cultural Remembrance|journal=Writers' Houses and the Making of Memory|volume=1|pages=76–77|via=ProQuest}}</ref>
Scott had only enjoyed his residence one year when (1825) he met with that reverse of fortune which involved the estate in debt. In 1830, the library and museum were presented to him as a free gift by the creditors. The property was wholly disencumbered in 1847 by [[Robert Cadell]], the publisher, who cancelled the bond upon it in exchange for the family's share in the copyright of Sir Walter's works.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
Scott's only son Walter did not live to enjoy the property, having died on his way from India in 1847. Among subsequent possessors were Scott's grandson Walter Scott Lockhart (later Walter Lockhart Scott, 1826–1853), his younger sister Charlotte Harriet Jane Hope-Scott (née Lockhart) 1828–1858, [[James Hope-Scott|J. R. Hope Scott]], [[Queen's Counsel|QC]], and his daughter (Scott's great-granddaughter), the [[Mary Monica Maxwell-Scott|Hon. Mrs Maxwell Scott]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
[[File:A View of Abbotsford from across the Tweed.jpg|thumb|''A View of Abbotsford from across the [[Tweed River (Scotland)|Tweed]]'', by [[Elizabeth Nasmyth]]]]
The house was opened to the public in 1833, but continued to be occupied by Scott's descendants until 2004. The last of his direct descendants to hold the [[Laird]]ship of Abbotsford was his great-great-great-granddaughter Dame [[Jean Maxwell-Scott]] (8 June 1923 – 5 May 2004). She inherited it from her elder sister [[Patricia Maxwell-Scott]] in 1998. The sisters turned the house into one of Scotland's premier tourist attractions, after they had to rely on paying visitors to afford the upkeep of the house. It had electricity installed only in 1962.
Dame Jean was at one time a lady-in-waiting to [[Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester]], patron of the [[Dandie Dinmont Terrier|Dandie Dinmont]] Club, a breed of dog named after one of Sir Walter Scott's characters; and a horse trainer, one of whose horses, Sir Wattie, ridden by Ian Stark, won two silver medals at the [[1988 Summer Olympics]].{{sfn|''Sydney Morning Herald''|2004|p=32}}
On Dame Jean's death the Abbotsford Trust was established to safeguard the estate.<ref name=scottsabbotsford/>
In 2005, [[Scottish Borders Council]] considered an application by a property developer to build a housing estate on the opposite bank of the River Tweed from Abbotsford, to which [[Historic Scotland]] and the [[National Trust for Scotland]] objected.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/after-200-years-scott-house-leaves-family-cw28k8qwk60|title=After 200 years Scott house leaves family|last=English|first=Shirley|date=19 May 2005|work=The Times|access-date=22 September 2017|location=London|url-access=registration }}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Fairburn|first=Robert|title=Housing plan put on hold|date=6 December 2005|url=http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=2357362005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516075613/http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=2357362005|work=The Scotsman|archive-date=16 May 2007}}</ref> There have been modifications to the proposed development, but it is still being opposed in 2020.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/news/politics/council/campaigners-keep-opposition-land-near-borders-authors-home-being-earmarked-housing-2523009|title=Campaigners keep up opposition|date=30 March 2020|work=The Southern Reporter|access-date=11 June 2020}}</ref>
Sir Walter Scott rescued the "[[jougs]]" from [[Threave Castle]] in [[Dumfries and Galloway]] and attached them to the castellated gateway he built at Abbotsford.{{sfn|Napier|1897|p=153}}
[[Tweedbank railway station]] is located near to Abbotsford.
==Miscellaneous==
[[File:Visitors Centre, Abbotsford.jpg|thumb|left|Visitors Centre, Abbotsford]]
Abbotsford gave its name to the [[Abbotsford Club]], founded by [[William Barclay Turnbull]] in 1833 or 1834 in Scott's honour, and a successor to the [[Bannatyne Club|Bannatyne]] and [[Maitland Club]]s. It was a [[text publication society]], which existed to print and publish historical works connected with Scott's writings. Its publications extended from 1835 to 1864.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
In August 2012, a new Visitor Centre opened at Abbotsford which houses a small exhibition, gift shop and Ochiltree's café with views over the house and grounds. The house re-opened to the public after extensive renovations in July 2013.
In 2014 it won the [[European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards|European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Award]] for its then recent conservation project.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europanostra.org/awards/137/ |title=Europa Nostra |publisher=Europa Nostra |access-date=3 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-283_en.htm |title=European Commission – PRESS RELEASES – Press release – Winners of 2014 EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards announced |publisher=Europa (web portal) |access-date=3 February 2016}}</ref>
{{clearleft}}
{{Gallery
|title=Abbotsford House exterior
|width=160
|height=170
|align=center
|File:Abbotsford Aug2009 01.jpg|Abbotsford as seen from the gardens
|File:Abottsford - panoramio.jpg|The walled garden
|File:The Orangery, Abbotsford - geograph.org.uk - 1317838.jpg|The orangerie
|File:Morris at Abbotsford 02.JPG|Statue of Morris: a character from Scott's novel ''[[Rob Roy (novel)|Rob Roy]]''-
}}
{{Gallery
|title=Abbotsford House interior
|width=160
|height=170
|align=center
|File:Abbotsford House Original Study Room.jpg|The Original Study Room
|File:Abbotsford House Dining Room.jpg|The Dining Room
|File:Abbotsford House Drawing Room.jpg|The Drawing Room
|File:Abbotsford House Library HDR.jpg|The Library
|File:Abbotsford House Study Room.jpg|The Study Room
}}
==See also==
*[[List of places in the Scottish Borders]]
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==References==
*{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB15104|desc=ABBOTSFORD INCLUDING HOUSE, WALLED GARDENS AND COURTYARDS, CONSERVATORY, BOTHIES, GAME LARDER, ICE HOUSE, TERRACES, GATE LODGE, BOUNDARY WALLS, GARDENER'S COTTAGE, STABLE BLOCK, GARDEN STATUARY AND ALL OTHER ANCILLARY STRUCTURES|cat=A|access-date=26 February 2019|ref={{SfnRef|Historic Environment Scotland LB15104}} }}
*{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=GDL00001|desc=ABBOTSFORD|access-date=26 February 2019|fewer-links=yes|ref={{SfnRef|Historic Environment Scotland GDL00001}} }}
*{{Citation|last=Napier |first=George G. |year=1897 |title=The Home and Haunts of Sir Walter Scott, Bart |publisher=James Maclehose |location=Glasgow |page= [https://archive.org/stream/homesandhauntss00napigoog#page/n221/mode/1up 153]}}
*{{Citation|title=Obituary of Dame Jean Maxwell-Scott |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=13 July 2004 |page=32|ref={{SfnRef|Sydney Morning Herald|2004}} }}
'''Attribution'''
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Abbotsford|volume=1}}
==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
*[http://www.scottsabbotsford.co.uk/ Abbotsford – The Home of Sir Walter Scott] – official site
*[http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/55750/details/abbotsford+house/ RCAHMS / CANMORE site record for Abbotsford]
*[http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/biography/homes.html Edinburgh University Library]
*[https://archive.org/details/abbotsford00crociala Abbotsford] (by W S Crockett – 1904 illustrated book pub. A & C Black)
*[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7948 Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey] by [[Washington Irving]], from [[Project Gutenberg]]
*{{Wikisource-inline|list=
**[[Washington Irving]], "[[s:Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey/Abbotsford|Abbotsford]]", in ''[[s:Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey|Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey]]''
**{{cite EB9 |wstitle = Abbotsford |volume= I  | page=26 |short=1}}
**{{Cite Nuttall|title=Abbotsford |short=x |noicon=x}}
**{{Cite NSRW|wstitle=Abbotsford |short=x |noicon=x}}
**{{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Abbotsford |short=x |noicon=x}}
}}
{{Walter Scott}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Category A listed buildings in the Scottish Borders]]
[[Category:Category A listed houses in Scotland]]
[[Category:Scottish baronial architecture]]
[[Category:Walter Scott]]
[[Category:Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes]]
[[Category:Gardens in the Scottish Borders]]
[[Category:Literary museums in Scotland]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in the Scottish Borders]]
[[Category:Country houses in the Scottish Borders]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1824]]
[[Category:Galashiels]]