|

Drumlanrig
Watercolour: Sir Charles Barry (1840)
Source: RIBA British Architectural Library Drawings & Archives Collection

Drumlanrig is perhaps the most splendid late seventeenth-century house in Scotland. Built between 1675 and 1697, when Baroque architecture was becoming fashionable in Scotland, its distinct forms reveal the enduring fascination with the Scottish castle and its theatrical qualities.

In 1675, the ambitious first Duke of Queensbury demolished the old castle on this site. His glorious new building, constructed of fine salmon pink sandstone, took over two decades to erect, the delay due to the lavishness of the decoration, inside and out. On the exterior, the castle’s facades are playfully covered with classical pilasters, pediments and balustrades, protruding like pastry cut-outs. Many towers and chimneys create an exciting skyline: this is a Baroque castle like none other.

This magnificent watercolour, by Charles Barry (1840), depicts his ideas for later additions to the south front and gardens. Barry has mixed his sources: onto the Baroque castle, he has added French and German sixteenth-century steep roofs and dormer windows. Below, the elaborate terraced gardens derive from Italian examples. Perhaps this mix was too much: Barry’s additions were never built, and Drumlanrig remains, in essence, the first Duke’s dream house.